Man who stole Tom Brady's Super Bowl jerseys is reportedly a Cowboys fan
Martin Mauricio Ortega had a long history of stealing sports memorabilia
While the Mystery of Tom Brady’s Missing Super Bowl Jerseys was solved last month, thanks in part to a 19-year-old Patriots fan helping the FBI, we’re still learning about the man behind these thefts: former Mexican newspaper executive Martin Mauricio Ortega.
Thanks to an exhaustive piece from SI.com’s Robert Klemko and Jenny Vrentas on the series of events that led to Brady’s stolen jersey, we learned this previously unknown nugget: Ortega, an avid memorabilia collector, was a Cowboys fan.
Ortega kept a simple office, light on decor aside from a few miniature NFL helmets and pictures of his wife and two daughters. He had little taste for Mexico’s national pastime, soccer, but he loved American football. Occasionally he would bring in memorabilia items to show to the few staffers who shared his passion for the NFL. He brought jerseys and cleats and footballs autographed by Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman and other NFL legends, and showed his employees selfies he’d taken with those players. Sometimes he’d print the selfies out and have them signed upon a return visit to the U.S. As a Cowboys fan, he’d attend the occasional regular-season game, a colleague says, gaining media access to the bowels of the stadium where he could more easily approach franchise legends for autographs.
Ortega, a director at La Prensa until his resignation last month, allegedly stole Brady’s game-worn Super Bowl LI jersey, his Super Bowl XLIX jersey and possibly even Von Miller’s helmet from Super Bowl 50. The international manhunt for those jerseys came to an end because of Dylan Wagner, the 19-year-old Pats fan and sports memorabilia collector.
It started last year when Wagner sold Ortega a jersey on eBay.
“[Ortega] sent me 30 photos of his collection. Front and center was Tom Brady’s Super Bowl XLIX Jersey. I asked him outright, ‘How did you get that?’ and he says ‘I’ll tell you later,’” Wagner told WBZ-TV earlier this month.
At the time, Brady’s jersey hadn’t been reported stolen and Wagner shared the photo with friend and fellow collector Christopher Arone who, it turns out, is also an ATF special agent based in Boston. And when Brady’s Super Bowl LI jersey went missing, Arone got in touch with Wagner. Wagner sent photos of Ortega’s collection to the ATF, who passed them onto the FBI. One thing led to another and the jerseys were returned to their rightful owner.
They're back! Robert Kraft presents Tom Brady with the jerseys he wore in Super Bowl XLIX and Super Bowl LI. pic.twitter.com/0AsuqS1j3Z
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 3, 2017
“It’s incredible. I wasn’t sure they’d even get one, but to get both of them back. It’s history, it really is,” Wagner said, adding “I would love to meet Brady one day, hopefully. It would be a dream come true. I’m just really glad he gets his jerseys back.”
















