In a special ceremony Wednesday night the Indianapolis Colts were given their Super Bowl rings. Even though team owner noted the rings' "simplicity", it seems as if the rings feature more symbolism than a T.S. Eliot poem:
There's the word "Faith'' on one shank, or side, of the ring. Faith "gives you the strength to have the perseverance to move forward even after many disappointments,'' Irsay explained.
On the opposite shank is the phrase "Our time.'' That was the Colts' theme as they headed into the playoffs...
OK, that sounds pretty simple to me. A couple of phrases, a motto, that's normal. But...
Much less conspicuous, but just as meaningful, is a dot of red enamel found on each of the players' rings, forming one rivet in a small horseshoe. The red symbolizes a drop of blood, emblematic of players "leaving it all on the field,''...
"There's obviously some bling,'' Irsay said Tuesday at his house in Carmel, gazing at the 50 diamonds that adorn the face and edges of the ring. "But we wanted it to have some beautiful simplicity and we wanted to feature the horseshoe. The symbol of the horseshoe is so universal, so powerful.''
In discussing the ring at length, Irsay kept returning to that word: symbol.
"That's the powerful thing about it,'' he said. "In life we use symbols . . . the art of symbols and reminders are part of our culture.''
Man, who ever knew that Robert Irsay was so big into symbolism. Bloody rivets? Yeesh. And is it just me, or when I am thinking of "universal" and "powerful" symbols the horseshoe doesn't quite pop into my mind. Anyway though, the rings do actually look pretty cool, even if they aren't as simple as advertised.
