At this point in time, most people know to expect the unexpected from NFL legend Tom Brady. So, when he announced his retirement from football earlier this year, only to revoke the statement two months later, no one was completely shocked.
However, for those selling the quarterback’s historic memorabilia, the story became slightly more complicated.
Most times, when an athlete retires, sentimental items from throughout that athlete’s career skyrocket in price and become high in demand. With this being said, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback decided it was time to call it quits, it wasn’t surprising when his historic “final” touchdown ball had a $518,000 sale attached to it.
Yet, Brady announced he wouldn’t actually be retiring which left many wondering what would happen with the$ 518K ball. As of last Thursday, the agreement between the buyer, consigner, and auction house has been nullified.
The situation regarding Brady is particularly unique, considering many athletes don’t announce a retirement only to come out of retirement two months later. Since a transaction never occurred between buyer and seller and the football likely will not be Brady’s final touchdown ball, the parties involved agreed it would be best to void the agreement.
Auction house staff speaks on behalf of Tom Brady’s historic unretirement ball
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“We wanted to do the right thing here,” Mike Heffner, president and partner at Lelands Auction House, said in a statement, according to ESPN. He added, “It’s the most unique situation that we’ll probably ever encounter in our lifetimes — at least when it comes to sports memorabilia. We’re still not to the end of the book yet; we’ve written a chapter.”
Despite the fact that the Super Bowl champion is not actually retiring and therefore the ball’s value has decreased, Heffner reported that multiple people have expressed interest in purchasing the ball.
“It’s still an incredible piece of history,” he relayed. “Any Brady touchdown ball is.”
Heffner also shared that it took over a month for the agreement to be nullified, as Brady’s unpredictable nature kept all parties involved on edge. Both the buyer and the auction house wanted to wait to ensure that the 45-year-old quarterback would actually stay unretired. Moreover, Heffner expressed that there is no guarantee Brady will unretire until he is seen on the field in September.
The auction house president stated, “All parties were waiting to see how it played out. Tom Brady, let’s face it, is kind of unpredictable these days. Until he throws that first touchdown pass in September, this ball is still the record.”
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