What’s a piece of sports history worth? It’s not quite $500,000, but the ball from Tom Brady’s 600th touchdown pass did get one fan a pretty nice haul.
The Buccaneers doled out two signed jersey and a helmet from Brady, an autographed Mike Evans jersey and his game cleats, a $1,000 credit for the team store and two passes for the rest of the 2021 season and next season, according to The Tampa Bay Times.
“I knew how much it meant to Tom,” fan Byron Kennedy said on Sunday, “and I was willing to trade.”
Kennedy was handed the ball by Evans after the wideout caught Brady’s pass in the end zone in the first quarter. The pass made Brady the first QB in NFL history to throw for 600 scores — and he added two more, both caught by Evans — before the game ended in a 38-3 Tampa Bay win.
Ezra Levine, CEO of the sports memorabilia investment platform Collectible, said the ball could be worth “easily $500,000-plus,” but “closer to $750,000” due to the history attached to it. That number was based on Brady’s first TD ball going for $428,000 at auction.
“I don’t actually keep too many things,” Brady said after getting the ball from Kennedy. “In that circumstance I felt like that might be a good one to keep. He’s going to get something nice in return. We’ll give him a helmet, a couple of jerseys or something. That was really cool of him to do that.”