Those who won the Grand Prize at the NFL Honors Thursday night in New Orleans received an extra gem to show off their great achievements.
The winners of eight major awards were given custom necklaces to commemorate the achievements of this season. Jeweler Leo Kuslo, who has worked with Thursday nominees and winners for years, has created a custom chain.
The front features the award acronym, and the back has a name and jersey number etched along with the achievements of each player. The only exception was the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which had an extended voting period.
Khusro told ESPN that the NFL reached out to the collaboration to give this year’s winners a gift that goes beyond the trophy case.
“They decided to wear necklaces for these guys so they can wear them in the game. They can wear them all throughout the season and they can wear them that day. You can,” Kuslo said. “It feels good to have that.”
Jewelers have a long history with some of the recipients and nominees recognized on the night of the NFL’s biggest awards.
Khusro has created the piece for Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II, the winner of this year’s Player of the Year.
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He also did extensive work for Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. Khusro made multiple necklaces for Burrow and also worked on Burrow’s custom black Cartier Santos pieces.
Each chain of NFL Honors this year is 18 carat white gold with VVS quality diamonds, a mobile phone. Some of them also have special unique features.
The chain, which was won by Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell as Coach of the Year, featured a bail whistle that connected the necklace to a pendant. The block “O” in Burrow’s “CPOY” chain has two arrows similar to UNO’s reverse card.
A tight deadline was required to make eight pieces for this year’s NFL adoration. Khusro said there will be six days to finish all the necklaces in time for Thursday’s red carpet festivities ahead of Super Bowl Lix. He said that in the call with the league, there was also the idea of adding a name and achievement to the necklace pendant.
That means that while he was with them at the Pro Bowl game in Orlando, Florida last week, he signed a private contract to keep his name private and did not reveal the winner.
But Kuslo was more than contentment to keep secrets.
“It was so beautiful to see the person in front of me. I knew I had been awarded for a long time. “So I didn’t say anything.”