Like many of his co-workers, Eric Ferebee heard the rumors circulating around Capital One Arena last June, just days after the Washington Capitals hoisted the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.

“It was, ‘Hey, I heard we’re getting a ring,'” Ferebee recalled. “But I didn’t pay much attention to it because I didn’t hear it from the horse’s mouth. I was like, ‘There’s no way he’s going to get all of us a ring.'”

Then one late summer morning Ferebee checked his email inbox, and there it was. “We’re excited to share the news that you are eligible to receive a Washington Capitals Stanley Cup Championship ring,” the message began.

The rumors were true. Ferebee, a part-time employee on the arena’s event staff for the past 17 seasons, was getting a version of the Caps’ championship ring.

So was everyone else. And by “everyone” we mean everyone.

The players, of course, were getting a ring. Ditto for the coaches, ownership group, team executives and staff that supports the players on a daily basis. That’s been standard procedure across big-time sports for decades.

Here’s where the Capitals’ story is a bit different: team owner Ted Leonsis had a difficult time deciding who would be getting a personalized ring and who wouldn’t. He wanted to reward his longest tenured and most loyal employees. But he didn’t want anyone to feel left out, either. To him, everyone — from members of Monumental Sports and Entertainment’s marketing team and part-timers who shovel ice shavings during TV timeouts to members of the television and radio broadcast teams and sub contractors who feed the players — played a vital role in pushing the Caps over the top and, thus, was deserving of some bling.

“I asked how many are we talking about?” Leonsis told The Athletic last week. “They came back with 1,500 people.”

It took Leonsis only a few moments to calculate the cost; it was going to be in the millions. But it didn’t take much longer for him to decide that the size of the bill wasn’t all that important.

“I said, ‘You know what? This will be something they will remember forever,'” he said. “And it’s the right thing to do. We just said everyone in the building. And even with that, I bet you there are still some people that feel a bit left out. But we did the best we could.”

The order Leonsis placed with Jostens was the largest the jewelry company had ever received from an NHL champion. For comparison’s sake, the biggest order Jostens has ever handled was 2,000 for the Cubs in 2016.

“They truly believed that it took everybody in that organization to win the championship,” said Jostens executive Chris Poitras, who spent six weeks working with Ted and Lynn Leonsis on the design of the players’ ring. “They wanted everyone to be able to cherish it.”

More than halfway through the 2018-19 season, there are flashy reminders of what the Caps accomplished last season — and could still accomplish again this season — adorning the ring fingers of employees throughout the arena.

Ferebee, in fact, wears his ring whenever he’s working a game. He operates the elevator that carries management, staff, reporters and others from the event floor to the press box.

“I was happy just taking a picture with the Cup,” Ferebee said. “Then we got that email about the ring and I was like, ‘WHAAAAAT?’ Just flabbergasted.”

Ferebee is not alone. National anthem singers Caleb Green and Bob McDonald wear their rings, too.

Anthem singers Caleb Green and Bob McDonald display the spoils of victory.

Green said he’ll never forget the ovation that he and McDonald got on opening night, just moments after being presented with their rings.

“When they announced us,” Green recounted, “we both held up our rings for the camera, right by the mic. It sounded like we scored a goal when everybody saw that camera shot.”

Green, who’s been singing the anthem for 19 years, is still surprised by the attention the ring commands.

“The emotions that it gets when people see it, it’s like they saw Michael Jackson or something,” Green chuckled. “You get the, ‘Holy bleeeeeeeeep. That’s really cool.'”

McDonald remembers everything about the moment he found out that he’d be receiving a ring with his name on it. He’s been singing the anthem for 26 years and has been a die-hard Caps fans for much longer than that.

“I got a text from someone with the Caps at some point in the summer asking me what my ring size was, that’s how I found out,” he said. “Who knows what their ring size is, right? So I’m like holy crap, I have to get a ring size. Within five minutes I was at the closest jeweler to my house getting sized.”

Public address announcer Wes Johnson also wears his ring to every game — though it usually spends as much time on his finger as it does getting passed around.

“No one wants to talk to me anymore,” Johnson joked. “They don’t care that I’m the announcer for the Caps. Or that I’ve been around for 19 years. They see the ring and that’s all that’s there. I disappear. It’s just a ring walking down the hall.”

Johnson paused and proudly held up his ring.

Capitals team announcer Wes Johnson shows off his championship hardware.

“If you ever get a ring like this, I’ve got one word for you: Purell,” Johnson cracked. “It goes on a lot of different hands.”

Although Green has had the ring for four months now, he still can’t believe Leonsis’ generosity.

“Ted wrote a check that you weren’t even willing to write for yourself,” Green said. “I wouldn’t buy myself a $12,000 ring. Twelve thousand dollars for a ring? And he gave it to us. He gave that. That speaks volumes.”

The rings came in different tiers. The players’ rings, of course, are at the top in terms of value, as they contain hundreds of diamonds, rubies and sapphires. The rings distributed to staffers have less bling. In all, Leonsis is believed to have spent north of $5 million. According to a source with knowledge of the arrangement, employees who received rings will not have a tax burden.

Cost and carat weight was of no concern to longtime employee Rick Lovell, though. A season ticket holder at the old Capital Centre and a part-timer on the event staff for 25 years, he was happy enough just seeing the Caps finally win a title after suffering through so much postseason heartbreak over the years. Getting a ring out of the deal was just gravy to him.

“It was a long time coming,” Lovell said. “A loooong time. Right after they won, I was thinking in the back of my mind that it would be nice to get a ring. But you never know. So it was very unexpected.”

Right wing Tom Wilson said he wasn’t surprised to hear about Leonsis’ generosity. He was, however, blown away when he heard how many rings were ordered and how much Leonsis spent.

“I’ve heard different numbers,” Wilson said of the cost. “But the exact number doesn’t matter. The gesture is insane. Whatever it was, that’s a lot of money.”

Wilson said every once in a while, an arena worker will approach him, smile, show off their ring and say, ‘Thank you.’

“It’s a pretty special feeling,” Wilson said.

Leonsis also gets stopped in the hallways of Capital One.

“I have people walking up to me all of the time giving me a hug, giving me a kiss and they go like this,” Leonsis said, holding up his hand. “It’s really been very special.”

“I think it’s paid itself back in positive vibes throughout the company.”

(Top Photo of Eric Ferebee. Photos By Tarik El-Bashir/The Athletic)