A fan who caught Tom Brady’s final touchdown ball after it was given away by Mike Evans has become $518,000 richer after it was sold by auction site Lelands. According to Jenna Laine of ESPN, Brady’s final touchdown ball was sold at an auction for $518,628. It surpassed the auction price of the ball from Brady’s first career touchdown pass when he was with the New England Patriots, which was sold for $428,841, but it fell short of the expected $1 million price. The ball landed in the fan’s possession after Evans threw it away into the stands after catching a 55-yard scoring strike from Brady in their NFC divisional round game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Evans later explained that he didn’t know that Brady was planning to retire so he gave away the ball. Instead of keeping it, the fan decided to put it on the auction block. Laine said the bid for Brady’s final touchdown ball started at $100,000 and total of 23 people placed bids.
Fans react to winning bidder
After the final bid was announced, fans reacted on social media regarding the winning bidder and the huge gamble that he made, per Andrew Holleran of Sports Illustrated. A fan said the fan who had the ball auctioned made a timely move as it would be worth nothing if Brady returns. “Wait until he plays again and the person that bought this spent half a mill on a football,” another fan wrote on Twitter.
Rumors are swirling that the 44-year-old Brady could cut short his retirement after saying he would never say never to a possible comeback. Brady further fueled speculations about his NFL future after he attended the Manchester United-Tottenham game at Old Trafford on Saturday. Manchester United is owned by the Glazers, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Two seasons ago, Brady signed a two-year deal worth $50 million with the Buccaneers and led them to their first Super Bowl title since 2002 with a 31-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. Last offseason, he signed a contract extension with the Buccaneers, meaning he still has one year left in his deal so he can come back anytime to Tampa.
Bucs keep Stinnie, restructure Vea’s deal
In an effort to create more cap room, the Buccaneers have restructured the contract of nose tackle Vita Vea, per Luke Easterling of USA Today. The move freed up around $7.64 million in cap space that would allow the Buccaneers to sign some of their key players who are turning free agents. The Buccaneers also kept guard Aaron Stinnie by signing him to a one-year deal before he turned unrestricted free agent (UFA) next Wednesday. Stinnie was a valuable reserve for the Buccaneers as he stepped up for guard Alex Cappa two seasons ago.
