The winner has emerged and the
winning team will be wearing new rings to celebrate the occasion.
Generally, every player on the 53-man roster, the entire coaching
staff, and the front office earn rings.
The NFL pays for the cost of 150 rings for the winning team, with
a max cost of about $7,000 per unit, depending on the cost of gold
and diamonds at the time. That usually covers the bulk of people
the team wants to gives the rings to, but it can go above that
number if the team buys extra rings.
Other players who can receive rings include practice squad
players, players on injured reserve, and players who were on the
roster at some point during the season. Teams will often consider
everybody who contributed at any point in the season worthy of a
ring.
Teams can really give them out to anyone. There have been fan
raffles for rings and teams are not stingy with them when it comes
to front office staff, players, and coaches. That does not mean
that they always end up with the same rings, however. There have
been examples of teams giving "lesser" rings to front office staff
or other non-coach, non-player personnel.
The main Super Bowl rings are massive and can weigh 100 grams or
more and include more than 100 diamonds. The Green Bay Packers
Super Bowl XLV ring had more than 100 diamonds, and was made out
of platinum, which is more expensive than gold.
The losing team actually gets a ring as well. It is sometimes
referred to as the AFC or NFC Championship ring. It typically is
less gaudy, and there is also less information about them. It is
difficult to imagine that a league championship ring is considered
a loser's ring.
Incidentally, the refs also get Super Bowl Rings.