The football that Tom Brady used to throw the final touchdown pass of his 22-year career is heading to auction.
Lelands will be hosting the auction, which begins Sunday at 3 p.m. EST and runs through March 12, WFLA-TV reported.
“We saw the photos and matched it up and was like ‘Oh my gosh, this is for real,’ holding it (in) my hands I got goosebumps,” Jordan Gilroy, director of acquisitions for Lelands, told WTVT-TV.
Fittingly, the GOAT’s final TD was thrown against the Golden Goats, more commonly known as the Los Angeles Rams. In the NFC divisional game last month, Brady connected with Mike Evans for a touchdown with 3:20 remaining in the game, pulling the Tampa Bay Buccaneers within seven points of the Rams at 27-20. Tampa Bay would tie the game, but the Rams won in overtime.
Los Angeles defeated San Francisco two weeks ago to reach Super Bowl LVI.
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The football was thrown into the crowd by Evans, who did not know that Brady would announce his retirement a week later.
“We stayed for the whole game and I just kind of held it like a baby and we watched them come back and lose,” the seller, who wished to remain anonymous, told ESPN. “We stood around for a while while the players walked off the field, then I tucked it in my jacket and we just walked out like normal. Nobody came up to us or anything.”
The seller grew up in Michigan and moved to central Florida three years ago, according to ESPN. He and his wife had never been to a Buccaneers game but bought tickets the day before the playoff contest.
Gilroy said he believes the football will sell for somewhere between $500,000 to $1 million, WTVT reported.
“Sometimes people hold on to these items, but I think he realized how important of a situation this is with the market, Brady retiring, the Super Bowl and the auction starting on the Super Bowl, it is perfect timing,” Gilroy said.
Evans, who caught Brady’s 600th career regular-season touchdown pass in October, also threw that ball into the stands.
Tampa Bay fan Byron Kennedy returned the ball to Brady in exchange for a Bitcoin from the quarterback, along with two signed jerseys and a helmet, WFLA reported. Kennedy also received a signed Evans jersey and game cleats, two season tickets for the remainder of 2021 and the 2022 season, and another game ball and a gift certificate for merchandise in the team store, the television station reported.
In June 2021, Lelands sold the football Brady threw to complete his first NFL touchdown pass for $428,841.60, including a buyer’s premium. Brady threw a 21-yard TD pass to Terry Glenn during a 29-26 victory at Foxboro Stadium on Oct. 14, 2001.
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Lelands also is selling the right-handed glove worn by former Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown, who tossed the apparel into the MetLife Stadium stands during the middle of a Jan. 2 game against the New York Jets.
The seller who owns the last TD ball told ESPN that retirement was the first thing that crossed his mind when learning about Brady’s decision to hang up his cleat.
“Since then, we thought maybe we don’t retire, but it’s a nice nest egg for when we do. Whatever happens, I would love to have as many people see the football and for it go in the Hall of Fame on display,” the seller told ESPN. “It should go somewhere everybody can enjoy it; it’s a piece of history.”
“It is insane. I honestly didn’t believe the person when they called us,” Gilroy told WTVT.