Lombardi Trophy Guard Hails From Arlington

Ben Nix is a local guy with a very unique job.  For the last 12 years, he's been in charge of protecting the Lombardi Trophy leading up to the Super Bowl, MyFoxDFW reports.

In the week leading up to the big game, Nix, who is from Arlington, receives the trophy and accompanies it to a slew of NFL events, where gawkers most definitely want to touch and be photographed with the trophy.  It's the former that causes such a problem for Nix, as keeping fingerprints off of the easily smudged  silver is more of a challenge than simply keeping it safe.

“The most difficult part is to keep the hands off it until the team gets it,” Nix told MyFoxDFW.com. “It smudges up pretty easily and so we try to keep that from happening.”

The Vince Lombardi Trophy, named for the former Green Bay Packers coach who won the first two Super Bowls, is made by Tiffany's and is comprised of seven pounds of sterling silver worth about $50,000. The trophy depicts a regulation size football at a slightly tilted angle that resembles the kicking position. The trophy is in no small way a sports icon in and of itself, easily on par with the yellow jersey, green jacket or Lord Stanley's cup.

Nix has provided security to the NFL since 1981 and is a former FBI agent and TCU football player.  Nix told Fox that it's pretty special to have the game at home this year and is looking forward to the moment when he can hand the trophy over to the presenter and the winning team.

Unlike the Stanley Cup, the Lombardi Trophy is made anew every year with the winning team maintaining possession forever. The Pittsburgh Steelers, who are still in the playoffs, lead the league with six Lombardi trophies.  They are followed by the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers, who each have five.

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