Pawnshop scheduled to star in reality TV show pilot

Customers in Rick Harrison's Gold and Silver Pawn Shop huddled around the Super Bowl ring that the pawnbroker held in his hand.

The ring, formerly owned by running back Brock Williams, commemorated the New Patriots' victory over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.

"It's hard to believe that with the money an athlete makes, his Super Bowl ring would end up in a pawnshop," one man said as he stared at Williams' name on the ring.

Harrison said Williams came into the shop a few years ago with a tale of woe that he does not now remember.

"All people go through some hard times, and everybody has to find a way out of them," Harrison said of Williams, who was a rookie defensive back placed on injured reserve during the Patriots' title run.

Harrison said the ring garnered Williams "several thousand dollars."

Though the ring shows a $100,000 price tag in a pawnshop display case, Harrison said for the time being he won't sell it any price.

"It creates too much buzz to sell," he said.

It's not the only piece of sports merchandise at Harrison's pawnshop that, at first blush, would seem unlikely to end up there.

The heavyweight championship belt of boxer Leon Spinks, who has had more than his share of problems holding on to his money, is also on hand.

So are both of the bronze medals of U.S. Olympian Joe Greene, who took third places in the long jump in both the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games.

Harrison noted that Greene said he got injured before the 2000 Olympic Games and lost his sponsors, leaving him "with many bills to pay."

Harrison won't say how much Greene made off his medals, nor will he say for how much he'll sell them.

Harrison, his 25-year-old son, Corey, and his 70-year-old father, Richard, are seldom at a loss for words in the store that also carries everything from casino memorabilia to an ancient Japanese samurai sword.

That explains, in part, why a national cable channel is scheduled to soon shoot a pilot for a reality show based at the pawnshop.

If the "Pawn star$" video of the family on Youtube.com is any indication, the show could be lively.

Shortly after the R-rated language video begins, Corey displays the handgun with which he promises to gun down an intruder.

And a woman is carried out of the store screaming for her wedding ring.

"I think her husband sold it a week before to pay off some gambling debts," Rick Harrison recalled.

Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2908.