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Aberdeen is often referred to as Hub City, but there is an actual town in South Dakota named Hub City that lies just north of Vermillion at the intersection of 306th Street and University. Hub City Native, Elliot Inberg used his artistic skills to help ring in a new era for Super Bowl Champions, and Midco Sport’s Elaina Lanson sat down with him to discuss his achievements.

Elaina Lanson: When did you know and realize that you had this artistic ability?

Elliot Inberg: Probably about 10 or 11. I totally enjoy it. I drew sports figures like Lou Gehrig or Babe Ruth sports figures from that time. In grade school, there was a problem in those days because we went to a two-room country school. No paper. Now you could get paper any place, paper and pencil, in those days you had to scrounge up paper, just to draw was difficult.

Elaina: Even so, there was no shortage of talent. To grow your technique, you attended the University of South Dakota, where you majored in advertising art and sharped your tools for what was to come.  

Elliot:  I had the benefit of other artists that went to school at the university and then they went on to work at Josten’s ring manufacturers and almost every year they would send back samples from the Art Gallery to the University and that's where I decided that's what I wanted to do.

Elaina: In 1967, you started working for Lenox Awards, where you would receive your biggest project yet. 

Elliot: Not to let the cat out of the bag or anything but a lot of the Super Bowl winners already knew which company they're going to go with. Al Davis was not like everybody else. He did not want to be told what to do. And he didn't want to go with Jostens or one of the big companies, he wanted a smaller company to go through and that's what he did.

Elaina: With Lenox Awards, you were commissioned by the Oakland Raiders to create the championship ring for Super Bowl XI, if they won. They were facing the Midwest favorite, the Minnesota Vikings. 

Elliot: I was pulling for the Vikings to win, but I was just interested in doing the ring more or less. I figured the Vikings could take care of themselves next year.

Elaina: The Raiders defeated the Vikings 32-14. The game will be remembered for many stats, one of the most important, the number of carats. Embracing the ’76 Raider’s identity, you designed a 14-karat white gold ring with an onyx stone that featured 27 diamonds boasting more than 6 times the amount of previous rings. What do you remember from making and designing that ring?

Elliot: I remember a lot of work. We didn't have computers of course. An ink and water coloring an airbrush. It was a combination of both Al Davis and me, we both had the same idea of something simple. I don't think we'll ever see another Super Bowl ring with a one-carat diamond on top for one thing. The diamonds are getting smaller and more of them and what people don't realize is all these little diamonds on top are worth nothing.

Elaina: You created memories that last a lifetime. What sticks out to you the most from your time in Oakland?

Elliot: The limousine driver picked me up at the airport brought me to Al Davis's office and opened the door there’s John Madden talking to Al Davis. And he gave me a big smile, a good handshake, and then they all told him to leave. When Al Davis did something, it was him, nobody else helped him. John Madden had nothing to do with the ring. Nobody else could either, just Al Davis. Another was coming on an airplane to Oakland I met I sat right next to Otis Sistrunk. He was wearing his Raiders clothes, he was as big as a house and we started talking about what I was going out there for. Otis Sistrunk’s finger is the largest finger a Super Bowl ring has been made for, a 23, my fingers a size 10 or 11. That'd be like two of mine. 

Elaina: You would go on to help design the rings commemorating the Raider’s wins in Super Bowl 15 and 18, along with many other monumental creations such as a medal commemorating the 25th anniversary of V-J Day, the Helen Keller Symbol of Hope Medal, and a piece near and dear to your Hub City upbringing, what was your favorite piece you created?

Elliot: Number one after that is the South Dakota Bicentennial medallion. It's my chance to do something for South Dakota. I lived in Minnesota at the time, but I did. And another thing, we were in the middle of buying a house, and the $5,000 paid for the down payment on that house, it was pretty good.

Commissioned for many pieces, sports and otherwise, Inberg is still considered a former top designer. Multiple lists as recent as 2018, including USA Today, have his Super Bowl ring ranked in the top 10 of all time. Along with its design and one-carat diamond, he changed history in the way Super Bowl rings are made. Al Davis wanted something like no other and Inberg certainly delivered.