WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- Dexter Manley earned his first Super Bowl ring on January 30, 1983, helping Washington defeat Miami in Super Bowl XVII.
"It was a great experience. What I like most about that was it was a team effort," said Manley.
In just his second year in the league, the "Secretary of Defense" accomplished what thousands of players never got the chance to.
"The ring means a lot, because there's a lot of blood sweat and tears," said Manley.
But that ring symbolizes more than football success; it's a reminder of personal failure.
For over two decades, the allure of cocaine got Dexter banished for life from the NFL, landed him in and out of jail and in one of his most desperate moments, claimed his prized possession.
Dexter walked into a pawn shop in his hometown of Houston and sold his Super Bowl ring for $15,000, money he used to buy drugs.
"It's a nice, hard piece of wear. You want to cherish it. I did but at the same time, when you are in your dark days, you have a tendency to, sort of, not to hold on to those value systems and I got rid of it."
While Dexter's path through the darkness continued; his friend John O' Quinn became a guiding light.
Dexter's wife, Lydia, explains why the two were so close.
"John got Dexter. He really understood who he was, and really loved him for who he was, and appreciated who he was. He had appreciation for the things he had achieved, like many of us."
Then in 1999, as the two men boarded a private plane, headed to Canton, Ohio, John did something that would forever change Dexter's life.
"August 5, 1999, sitting on the Jet, he passed me the ring. I was like I hadn't seen it in years."
Turns out, John spent $15,000 to buy back that Super Bowl ring for his friend to have.
"It meant a lot to me and the fact that I hocked it, a lot of shame, very shameful. But there's always other angels around, and John O' Quinn was a good angel because he had wherewithal to make sure I get my ring back and I'm truly grateful."
But Dexter didn't trust himself enough to not pawn it again.
"I gave it back to him and said keep it for safe keeping. I wasn't so sure. I still had another run in me."
As per Dexter's request, John kept the ring for close to 10 years until he was killed in a car accident in 2009. When Dexter called about the ring, the man in charge of O' Quinn's estate said he was only allowed to talk to Dexter's wife about the ring.
"The condition for the ring was I had to have clean time to get this ring back. That was what John O' Quinn requested. That's what he put in the will," said Dexter
Dexter has been clean for over nine years and now that Super Bowl ring is more than a symbol of football greatness.
It represents a rebirth and a renewed spirit.
"A lot of people don't get this, don't have it. Today, I do cherish it. I keep it in a safe deposit box. I was a young prize bull. Now I'm more experienced and more mature. I have bright future days in front of me from here on out. I don't think there no more dark days. I know there's no more dark days."
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