Championship football ring found along Oregon highway returned to owner

THE DALLES, Ore. — A championship ring is a precious piece of jewelry for a football player. One former player was reunited with his long-lost ring after a cleanup crew found it along an Oregon interstate last week.

>> Read more trending news

Visesio Salt Jr. helped Mt. San Antonio College win its second consecutive community college national title in 2010, KMTR reported. Now 33, Salt joined the University of Utah football team as a strength and conditioning coach in November, according to the team’s media guide.

In 2010, Salt was an offensive lineman for the California school, which went 13-0 under coach Bill Fisk. After the Mounties won their second straight national championship, Salt gave the ring to his father, a long-haul truck driver, according to KMTR.

“Unfortunately, over time, the ring was misplaced and assumed never to be seen again,” Oregon State Police said in a Facebook post. “That was until, on Dec. 3, 2021, a cleanup crew working for the Oregon Department of Transportation found Mr. Salt’s championship ring amongst some trash alongside Interstate 84 near The Dalles.”

An Oregon state trooper contacted the community college’s athletic department to find the rightful owner, KMTR reported.

“A staff member looked on the wall of the hallway and could see the football championship photos from 2009 and 2010 which were the back-to-back national championship years for the Mt. San Antonio Collage,” the Facebook post said. “It wasn’t long before she had located a phone number for Mr. Salt.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, Salt graduated from the college in 2011 with an associate arts degree in kinesiology and exercise science. He then attended the University of Utah, where he received a bachelor’s degree in sports management in 2014. This year, he earned a master’s degree in strength and conditioning from Concordia University in Chicago.

After state troopers discovered who owned the ring, they attempted to contact Salt. But on Friday night, he was in Las Vegas, attending the Pac-12 championship game between the Utes and the University of Oregon at Allegiant Stadium. Utah won that game 38-10, so Salt is in line to receive another championship ring.

“The trooper was later able to contact Mr. Salt and give him the good news about finding the lost ring,” state police said on Facebook. “Congratulations were also given on the Utes winning the Pac-12 championship.”

©2021 Cox Media Group