ABC15’s Cameron Polom is revisiting the journey of a 30-year-old letterman jacket found in a serendipitous twist of fate three years ago.
Musician Jed Mottley was a varsity football player at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale three decades ago — an accomplishment that could only be represented in one way as a teen in the 1990s: with the sporting of a letterman jacket.
“I went to a store right down the street here and we picked everything out, we might have even put a deposit down,” said Mottley in an interview with ABC15.
But when it came time to pick it up, his mom broke the bad news that they didn’t have the money to purchase it.
Two decades later, in 2021, Mottley's brother walked into Veterans Village, a Pinetop thrift store near his home. It was his last stop of the day and he said he had a funny feeling telling, him he’d find something cool inside.
Inside the store, he found what could have only been Mottley's letterman jacket — one that maybe shouldn't even exist.
Of course, he took the jacket home and gave it to its rightful owner, Mottley.
Since then, Mottley has taken the special jacket on stage during his concerts and even to his 30th high school reunion last weekend.
See how Mottley’s jacket has become a symbol of resilience, family, and nostalgia in the video player above.
