Cassius Marsh is a big, fast, heavily tattooed defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks. And he’s a self-professed nerd, who is mourning a bit this week after someone stole his valuable collection of Magic: The Gathering cards.
Marsh told The Seattle Times that his girlfriend went to a nightclub in downtown Seattle on Tuesday and someone smashed his car window and snatched two backpacks from the backseat. One contained his team-issued iPad and the other was full of the fantasy trading cards, which Marsh said were valued at around $20-25,000.
Marsh said he has been playing for years and he uses the game to get his mind off of things.
“I’m a nerd, for sure,” Marsh told the Times. “I’ve been playing since I was 11. How people like gaming, I like cards.”
Marsh turned to Twitter for help in tracking down the thief, and to implore whomever was now in possession of the collection, to please consider returning it. He even offered two tickets to the next Seahawks home game to whomever returns his cards, saying that he would not press charges.
Who ever stole my magic collection from my LR4 last night, if you are 12 plz return it and I will give you two tickets to next home game.
— Cassius Marsh (@KingCash_7191) November 9, 2016
All you 12s do me a huge favor and retweet my last tweet. Other than god family and football, my magic card collection is everything
— Cassius Marsh (@KingCash_7191) November 9, 2016
The backpack that they were in was stolen outside of Ashton manor while my girlfriend was inside with her friends. So Seattle area
— Cassius Marsh (@KingCash_7191) November 9, 2016
Legacy Elve
Legacy Goblin
Modern Affinity
Standard W/R Vehicles
Modern U/R Walkers
Modern Abzan Company
Modern Jund
Modern UW Planes Control— Cassius Marsh (@KingCash_7191) November 10, 2016
Those are the decks that were stolen
— Cassius Marsh (@KingCash_7191) November 10, 2016
Renton, Wash.-based Wizards of the Coast caught wind of the Marsh’s sad situation and sent representatives with a care package to the Seahawks nearby training facility at Virginia Mason Athletic Center.
“Magic: The Gathering came by and gifted me a bunch of stuff, just trying to make my day better,” Marsh said in a story on the Seahawks website. “That was just the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me. If I was 11 [years old] and I thought about getting a box full of Magic stuff from Magic: The Gathering, I’d be pretty hyped.”
.@Seahawks linebacker @KingCash_7191 had his Magic collection stolen earlier this week, so we delivered him a care package! pic.twitter.com/rCuh4x9RxJ
— Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) November 10, 2016
In addition to Cassius' care package, we will also be donating a gift of equivalent retail value to a Seattle-based children’s charity.
— Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) November 10, 2016
Worth noting lots of the product in that care package came from the personal collections of WotC employees who wanted to help out too!
— Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) November 11, 2016
Want to thank @wizards_magic for coming through with an amazing care package to try and make the situation better! #nerdgang
— Cassius Marsh (@KingCash_7191) November 11, 2016
The Seahawks story offered further detail on Marsh’s obsession with the game. He said his closet at home is full of common and uncommon cards.
“Each one of these cards, you trade to get them or you purchase them in certain places, so there’s memories connected with all the cards,” Marsh said. “It’s just like anything that people collect that mean a lot to them.”
Among his many tattoos, there is even one on his hand representing the five colors of Magic: white, blue, black, red, and green.
#MTG fans will recognize this tattoo on @KingCash_7191's hand. He's offering a reward for his stolen collection: https://t.co/EX27osTxqP pic.twitter.com/IeTHJjUI4w
— Tony Drovetto (@TonyDrovetto) November 10, 2016