Judge orders ex-Buc Ahanotu to surrender championship ring

TAMPA Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Chidi Ahanotu entered a Tampa courthouse Tuesday morning hoping to keep his National Football Conference championship ring but was ordered to give up the jewelry.

Circuit Judge Elizabeth Rice ordered Ahanotu to surrender his 2002 St. Louis Rams conference championship ring. Ahanotu's ex-wife's lawyers are trying to seize the ring to help pay more than $130,000 in legal fees owed by the former football player.

"This court system is a farce," Ahanotu said. "This court wants a man to hand over his once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment to pay some damn attorney's fees? I could see if it was going to pay something for my children or my ex-wife.''

The case already has involved months of squabbling, and Ahanotu tried to protect the ring Tuesday by telling the judge he had given the ring to his brother, Duru, to settle a $30,000 debt.

Matthew Thatcher, the attorney for Ahanotu's ex-wife, asked when he gave the ring to his brother. Ahanotu said in 2007.

Ahanotu never drafted a contract with his brother but produced a will stating Duru would inherit all of Chidi's belongings. The will was created two days after Ahanotu appeared in court on Sept. 8.

Rice later questioned if Ahanotu was trying to defraud the system.

"If you're giving him the ring in your will, you ain't dead yet," Rice told Ahanotu.

When Ahanotu appeared in court in September, he said the ring was in his pocket, but revealed it was a replica. Ahanotu previously said he exchanged his original ring for one made of white gold, not the manufacturer's yellow gold.

The court previously ruled Thatcher's firm needed an order to obtain Ahanotu's replica ring. Rice's ruling on Tuesday gives the firm rights to sell Ahanotu's ring to pay off his debt.

Now Ahanotu will have to produce the ring or risk being jailed for contempt of court.

Ahanotu, who played for Tampa Bay from 1993 to 2000 and in 2004, said he will have to see Rice's order before determining his next move. He said he does not have money to hire an attorney and said the ring is probably only worth $500 for the gold.

"I told them that, but they think it's worth $10,000 to $20,000,'' Ahanatou said. "They will never get that much. If somebody pays that much, God bless them. That would make me feel important.''