What happened to Tom Brady’s last touchdown football?
The buyer of the football that Tom Brady used to throw what was supposed to have been his last touchdown will get a refund on the $518,000 purchase.
The football that Tom Brady used to throw what was thought to be his last touchdown in the NFL was auctioned off for $518,000, and now, the buyer will be getting a refund on the extremely high-priced purchase.
The buyer’s representative, Attorney Jeffrey Lichtman, said the sale was voided by Brady’s decision to return to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the coming season.
Evans threw potentially historic ball to fans
The 44-year-old threw the ball 55 yards to wide receiver Mike Evans for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of their NFC Divisional Round game against the Los Angeles Rams. Evans then threw the ball into the stands, not realizing that it could have been Brady’s final touchdown pass.
The fan who caught the ball is presumed to have put it up for auction after the seven-time Super Bowl champion announced his retirement.
The New Jersey company Lelands auctioned off the ball for $518,628; the price pushed up by the idea that it was the last touchdown pass thrown by the quarterback widely acknowledged to be the GOAT.
“If Evans had not tossed it into the stands, it would still be in the possession of the Buccaneers and would never be offered publicly,” according to Leland’s listing for the item.
A big case of buyer’s remorse
However, less than 24 hours after the sale, Brady announced that he was un-retiring, sending the market value of the ball tumbling. The buyer understandably wanted to void the sale, and after some negotiations, the parties involved came to an agreement and the ball is now back with the fan who caught it.
The owner of the ball could still probably make a lot of money from it in the future, though maybe no longer half a million dollars.
Collecting sports memorabilia continues to be popular, and items from Brady have attracted a lot of high-paying bidders in the past. The football with which he completed his first career touchdown fetched more than $400,000, while an autographed rookie card was sold for $3.1 million.