Former New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs believes the Super Bowl XLII jersey presented to him following the team's celebration is an extra uniform after he was contacted by a collector who provided evidence he owns the actual piece of game-worn memorabilia. Jacobs provided the story to Robert Klemko and Jenny Vrentas of The MMQB as part of their story about Tom Brady's stolen gear, which was recently recovered in Mexico:For years, Jacobs says, he's had framed in his home what he thought was his game-worn number 27 jersey, next to his game-worn Super Bowl XLVI shirt, gifts for each of his two sons. He recalls handing his XLII jersey to an equipment manager after the game and picking it up the next day when the Giants returned to New Jersey. Two years ago, however, he received an email from a collector who claimed to have Jacobs' entire game-worn uniformjersey, helmet, pants and thigh padswhich he said his friend purchased from a Giants equipment manager. The collector sent Jacobs pictures that appeared to match the grass stains and paint marks shown in game photos. Jacobs now believes the jersey hanging on his wall is not the one he actually wore in the Super Bowl, but rather the backup shirt that he never put on that day.The 34-year-old two-time Super Bowl champion first sent out a message about the situation on social media back in February:His situation doesn't appear to have any direct link to the Brady thefts, though. Last month,TMZ Sportsreported the suspect in that case is formerDiario La Prensaexecutive Mauricio Ortega.Jacobs' apparent jersey swap isn't the only memorabilia-related drama involving the Giants, as there's an ongoing lawsuit against the team and quarterback Eli Manning. Kaja Whitehouseof theNew York Postreported sports collector Eric Inselberg filed a suit in 2014 alleging the team knowingly forged game-used equipment to "fool fans and make money from collectors over the years."Michael O'Keeffeof theNew York Daily Newspassed along comments from the Giants and Manning when the allegations first surfaced."The suit is completely without any merit whatsoever, and we will defend it vigorously," the Giants said in a statement. "We will not otherwise comment on pending litigation."The star QB added: "The Giants told me this suit is completely without merit, and I have no reason to believe otherwise. The Giants are going to fight it, and so will I." In January, a New Jersey Superior Courtjudge ruledthe lawsuit, which claims fraud and racketeering, could move forward.The MMQB report noted "two men who contacted Jacobs" about having his equipment from Super Bowl XLII are "among the plaintiffs" in the ongoing case.For more news, rumors and related stories about Brandon Jacobs,the New York Giantsand the NFL,check out theNFLandGiantsstreams onBleacher Report's app.
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