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FedEx lost Russ Smith’s 2013 national championship jersey

NCAA Final Four Michigan Louisville Basketball

AP photo

Charlie Neibergall

Russ Smith’s stay in Louisville has come to a close following his graduation on Saturday. The projected second round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft wanted to make sure his father, who is back at home in Brooklyn, held on to one of his prized possessions from his career with the Cardinals: the jersey he wore in the 2013 National Title game.

However, due to a mishap on the part of FedEx, that jersey is gone.

According to WHAS11, the jersey, which was framed and presented to Smith on senior night, made it to New York, though, when it arrived the frame and glass had been cracked. FexEx agreed to pay for the damages, asking for the entire package to be sent back. Upon its return, the package had been thrown away by the shipping company due to safety concerns.

Smith voiced his frustrations through his Twitter account in a string of tweets:

I want to personally thank Fed Ex for deliberately throwing away my National Championship Jersey & compensating it by saying “Sorry”.

— Russ Smith (@Russdiculous_2) May 9, 2014


The frame cracked when it got to my dad, then because of the cracked $600 frame we asked to send it back. Then they said the will only ...

— Russ Smith (@Russdiculous_2) May 10, 2014


Accept the cracked frame with the jersey/merchandise inside the frame. So we comply only for them to throw my jersey away and say “sorry”.

— Russ Smith (@Russdiculous_2) May 10, 2014


@FedEx There will be plenty of problems if I don’t have my jersey. Same stains, same rips, same odor, same everything. Can’t duplicate that.

— Russ Smith (@Russdiculous_2) May 10, 2014


Erin Truxal, the public relations and crisis communications manager for FedEx, issued this statement regarding the incident.:
“We are working closely with security to further investigate this matter. The damaged merchandise was marked to discard since, for safety precautions, our employees are trained not to open packages with broken glass. We sincerely apologize to Mr. Smith for his recent experience. We are working directly with Mr. Smith on this matter.”

The cherished jersey is priceless to Smith, a symbol of his accomplishments with the Cards, but the uniform does have a price tag on it. Jonathan Blue, a member of the U of L Board of Trustees, said he will give a $3,000 reward to anyone who can find the missing jersey and deliver it to his office.

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