7 On Your Side helps Rams fan tackle NFL in auction mishap
MOUNT ARLINGTON, New Jersey (WABC) -- Super Bowl LVI is just a little over a week away, with the Cincinnati Bengals taking on the Los Angeles Rams.
We may live in Giants and Jets territory, but one Eyewitness News viewer who just happens to be a member of Rams Nation needed help fighting none other than the National Football League.
Luckily for Joe Destito, Nina Pineda and 7 On Your Side are always game.
Destito's basement in his Mount Arlington home is floor to ceiling Rams-abilia, with more than a dozen footballs and an all-star wardrobe of 45 game-used jerseys.
A Rams fan since age 7, he's been collecting for nearly 40 years.
"These are all signed by Rams," he said. "Everything here is signed and authenticated."
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Last Sunday, his Ram-cave was rocking when LA punched its ticket to the Super Bowl.
"I was here with my son," he said. "And my son's a 49ers fan, so he wasn't too happy."
But months earlier, neither was Destito. For the past year, he's been waiting to receive a Rams John Johnson game-used jersey.
"He's one of their mainstays for their defense," he said.
Last February, Destito won an NFL-run auction with a $510 bid. But a year later, he's yet to receive his jersey.
Months later, the NFL emailed saying there was an "error in the listing."
"And the item is no longer available," Destito said.
They promised to process a refund to his credit card, but Destito lost the card and had to cancel it.
Then, the NFL promised to send a check. But that was last fall.
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"They just wouldn't return the money," he said. "I had my lawyer contact them."
So Destito handed off to us, and we connected with the NFL.
"And within an hour and a half, I recieved an email saying they'll ship the check overnight," Destito said.
The NFL admitted it fumbled, mistakenly auctioning off the same jersey twice. They apologized and overnighted the check, $535 signed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell himself.
"Thank you for all the work that you've done," Destito said.
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