NFL star Tom Brady attempted to help out a fan this week who paid $518,628 for Brady’s “final touchdown pass” football on March 12, hours before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback announced his unretirement, instantly plummeting the ball’s value.
Some say the ball is worth only $20,000 today. So Brady asked cryptocurrency exchange company FTX to toss the fan a Bitcoin to help with the situation. A Bitcoin is currently worth about $42,000.
“Hey @ftx_official … could we donate a Bitcoin to the charity of this person’s choice?!” Brady, 44, posted on his Instagram account Friday. Included with the post was video of the quarterback’s pass to Tampa Bay wide receiver Mike Evans, thought to be Brady’s last career pass after Tampa Bay lost that January 23 playoff game to the Los Angeles Rams, and Brady announced his retirement nine days later. In place of the now-notorious football, Brady edited the video to include a big yellow Bitcoin in his hands instead:
The unlucky buyer, who has not been named, will not be able to return the ball, since the purchase was “100 per cent true and accurate at the time of sale,” the UK Daily Mail reported. The buyer beat out 22 other bidders in an online sale that lasted a month, according to reports. Barron’s said of the purchase:
“The value of the ball could drop dramatically,” says Darren Julien, president and CEO of Julien’s Auctions, which was not involved in the sale. “It’s a unique situation, and the buyer has no recourse to return it.”
The buyer, who remained anonymous, beat 22 other bidders during the month-long online sale to own “a piece of sports history,” according to the New Jersey-based auction house Lelands, which handled the sale. The starting bid was US$100,000.
Tom Brady’s last touchdown ball sold for $518,628 last night at @Lelandsdotcom. https://t.co/K3PkStY9pU pic.twitter.com/aQiUBPXrb8
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) March 13, 2022
Lelands had expected the football to sell for $1 million, after Tom Brady merchandise has sold for top dollar in the past. The ball from Brady’s first-ever touchdown pass in 2001 sold for $428,000, and a rookie card for the quarterback sold for $3.1 million in June 2021.
Brady would later announce that he had changed his mind, and continue another season with the Buccaneers. “Unfinished business,” Brady said was one of the reasons for his decision:
These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands. That time will come. But it’s not now. I love my teammates, and I love my supportive family. They make it all possible. I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa. Unfinished business LFG pic.twitter.com/U0yhRKVKVm
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) March 13, 2022
Brady’s supermodel wife Gisele Bündchen, 41, showed support for her husband’s decision, People reported March 14. “Everything they do they decide as a family,” a source said of the couple.
Brady and Bündchen joined FTX, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, as ambassadors in June 2021, with Bündchen reportedly servicing as an adviser for the crypto firm’s social and environmental initiatives. Bloomberg reported of the power couple’s new venture in June 2021:
Celebrity couple Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen have taken an equity stake in crypto firm FTX as part of a long-term partnership, marking the duo’s newest foray into the world of digital assets.
Both Brady, a celebrated American football player, and Bündchen, a world-renowned supermodel, will serve as ambassadors for FTX, according to an announcement Tuesday. The cryptocurrency exchange declined to disclose their equity stake, but did say they will both receive an unspecified amount and type of crypto. Bündchen will also take on the role of FTX’s environmental and social-initiatives adviser, according to the release.
Gisele Bündchen Supports Tom Brady's Un-Retirement: They Decided 'as a Family,' Source Says https://t.co/b4VnxkVGlN
— People (@people) March 14, 2022
FTX brought the celebrity couple on during the company’s funding push to raise $1 billion with hopes of turning it into a value of $20 billion. Bloomberg reported in 2021:
Brady and Bündchen’s ambassadorship comes as FTX discusses raising as much as $1 billion in a new funding round that could value it at as much as $20 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Lead investors haven’t yet been identified and terms of the round could change as it’s not yet finalized, they said. An FTX representative declined to comment on the funding round.
Brady has one year left on his contract with the Buccaneers, and could become a free agent at the end of the season, but the team is not speculating on the quarterback’s future plans. “We’ll get to that when we get to it,” Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said Monday of Brady’s contract. “Right now, we’re focused on what we have and what we have to do here in the next few days.”
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