Seattle teenager helps FBI find stolen Tom Brady Super Bowl jerseys

Looks like Tom Brady and the Patriots have Seattle to thank for helping to solve Jersey-gate 2017. Or, at least a teenager who lives in Seattle.

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According to multiple Boston-area media outlets, a 19-year-old sports memorabilia collector, and avid Patriots fan, named Dylan Wagner helped the FBI find a pair of Brady’s missing Super Bowl jerseys.

Wagner told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Wednesday that the sleuthing started last December, after selling the alleged thief, Martin Mauricio Ortega, a jersey on eBay. The pair exchanged photos of their collections and “Front and center, right in his collection, he had Tom Brady’s Super Bowl 49 jersey,” Wagner said.

Super Bowl 49 (XLIX), of course, is infamous to most Seahawks fans as the game Seattle faltered at the one-yard line, with QB Russell Wilson throwing an interception in the end zone to New England’s Malcolm Butler.

While the media caught hold of reports that Brady’s jersey was stolen following the Patriots’ come-from-behind win against the Falcons on Feb. 5 in Super Bowl LI, the other theft was unknown to the public.

Still, Dylan said he shared Ortega’s photos with his friend – a Boston ATF Special Agent and fellow collector. After Brady talked about the 2017 missing jersey, the ATF agent got back in touch with Wagner.

The agent sent him a link to an ESPN article, which noted that Brady had his jersey stolen after the Seahawks’ Super Bowl. And the connections clicked.

Wagner said he passed along the photos of Ortega’s collection and the man’s contact information to the Boston ATF agent, who turned it over to the FBI.

Ortega was a member of the international media and seen on video leaving the locker room with something tucked under his arm after the most recent Super Bowl.

The FBI recovered both jerseys in Mexico and returned them to the Patriots.

Who is Dylan Wagner?

Wagner told Monson that he works at his family’s business: Roads Paving Washington, LLC, in Pacific, Wash. Wagner said he was born in Boston and moved to Seattle at the age of12.

“I know, I know, I get a lot of backlash all the times,” Wagner said. “People see me driving around and I’ve got my Patriots sticker on my truck, but, yes, I’m a huge Patriots fan. I live here in Seattle but I was born in Boston so I have my legitimate reason on why I’m a Patriots fan and not just a bandwagon (fan).”

And while Ortega’s choice to show off the stolen jersey was certainly bold, he told Dori that it wasn’t altogether surprising.

“It blows my mind but if I were him, I think I would be in the same shoe,” Wagner said. “Having such a jersey, it’s the holy grail of all jerseys so it’s hard to keep your mouth shut when you have such a great jersey.”

Wagner said he has been told he’ll be flown to Boston to attend a few Patriots games next season and is hopeful that he will get to meet Brady. Wagner said he will make a request of the five-time Super Bowl champ.

“I am gonna ask for a game-worn jersey,” Wagner said. “As a collector, you know, I think that would be a great one for my collection.”

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