Bills fan's wedding ring returned by Jets fan years after it was lost at a game
ORCHARD PARK N.Y. (WIVB) -- A Buffalo Bills fan and a New York Jets fan now share a unique bond. Derrick Norman, also known by Bills Mafia as Chef Norm, has plenty of energy during games, but that excitement caused him to lose something valuable at a game seven years ago: his wedding ring.
"Next thing I know I look at my hand and I said, 'my ring is gone,' Norman said.
"Initially I was very angry. I was so mad because I'm like 'how do your ring come off? How does that happen?'" Norman's wife, Rahsaan, said.
A team effort was initiated to help locate the lost ring, with security and fellow Bills fans all scouring the section. Norman later went to lost and found after the game, but to no avail.
It seemed as though no one could find it, but Bud Bristol, a Jets fan, did.
"We just weren't sure where it was lost, he just wasn't sure, where it was lost. We just happened to find it as we were leaving the game," Bristol said.
By then Norman had already left and Bristol had no way of contacting him, but he kept the ring ever since. A few weeks ago he was talking football with one of his customers at the restaurant he runs and mentioned the ring -- that's when the customer said she might know someone who might know the owner.
"I gave her one of my cards, she says 'alright, I'll see if I can find someone,' and a week later he's calling me on the phone," Bristol said.
"I call him and sure enough this guy had my ring. I said you can mail it, and he said 'no, I think I'm going to deliver it to you in person,'" Norman said.
This past Sunday prior to the Bills-Jets game, Bristol drove to Orchard Park to bring Norman his ring.
"It was an opportunity to do the right thing, I've done enough dumb things in my life so when you have an opportunity to do the right thing, it's the right thing," Bristol said.
"Twenty-four years ago, my wife got this ring, and put it on my hand and I vowed not to ever take it off, so that meant a lot to me when I lost it. It brought back so many feelings and emotions," Norman said.
The two will forever have that special experience, and Norman will always be grateful to the man who returned his ring.
"This guy is a really good guy, I really appreciate him," Norman said.