In February of 2021, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray donated his high-profile Snickers “Hungriest Player of the Year” necklace to the Arizona Foundation for the Future of Nursing. On Saturday, the necklace valued at $60,000+ yielded a mere $24,000 at Lelands' "Winter Classic 2022" auction.
According to the Lelands website, the unique piece of football memorabilia was a late addition to the month-long online auction (Lot 1196 out of 1201 items) and attracted just a single bidder. From what we can tell, the private bidder got a great deal.
Designed by celebrity jeweler Ben Baller, the pendant features the Snickers "S" logo and the word "Hungry" rendered with a mix of more than 2,300 gemstones, including diamonds (12.83 carats), rubies (8.05 carats) and blue sapphires (10.10 carats). The round, brilliant-cut diamonds average VS2 in clarity and H in color.
The pendant hangs from a 28-inch-long, 15mm wide, 10-karat, yellow-gold, Cuban-link chain that weighs 402 grams (nearly a pound).
Each week during the NFL season, Snickers presented the blinged-out pendant to the league’s “Hungriest Player.” The chain was passed from one top performer to the next, based on their successes both on and off the gridiron.
Murray earned the right to wear the necklace after his momentous 43-yard Hail Mary throw to DeAndre Hopkins to lead the Cardinals to victory over the Bills in Week 10 of the season. With only 11 seconds left to play and down 30-26, Murray had just enough time to make some magic. That pass has become known as "The Hail Murray."
At the end of the season, Snickers invited fans to weigh in on which of the weekly honorees was the hungriest. As the winner of the second annual Snickers “Hungriest Player of the Year” in 2020, Murray was gifted the chain in 2021 and then encouraged to donate it so the proceeds could benefit frontline healthcare workers in Arizona.
Baller had designed the original, simpler, version of the "Hungriest Player" necklace in 2019.
“When Snickers hit me up about collaborating on a chain to honor the hungriest players in the NFL, I was immediately all in,” Baller said in 2019. “The idea of passing this Snickers chain to a different player each week is just crazy, so I knew we’d have to come up with something next level to make sure it served as the ultimate reward for hustle and success.”
Established in 1930, Snickers continues to thrive with annual worldwide sales of more than $2 billion. The brand got a boost in 2012 with its wildly popular “You’re not you when you’re hungry” ad campaign.
Credits: Kyler Murray image via twitter.com/k1. Jewelry images courtesy of Snickers.