Tom Brady's final TD ball before retirement U-turn falls drastically in value
Last season, Tom Brady threw a touchdown pass that was slated to be his final one. He retired, thus making the ball extremely valuable. However, seeing as how he returned to football later, the ball is no longer from his final touchdown pass. He has now thrown two in regular-season games since then, making it just another touchdown pass for the future Hall of Famer.
The ball was initially sold at auction for an incredible $518,000. Unfortunately for the seller, Brady's retirement reversal came the day after it was sold. The auction house voided the bid and the money was never exchanged.
It was an unfortunate turn of events for the owner of the ball, who recently sold it again, though legitimately this time. Since it is no longer historic in almost any capacity, the price dropped rather significantly.
Instead of over $500,000, the seller earned $129,658, nearly a 75% drop in price. Mike Evans, the receiver who caught the touchdown pass, had originally tossed the ball into the stands for a fan without realizing his mistake:
"You gotta understand. Before Tom came to the Bucs I was always throwing balls away to the fans, I showed love to the fans by giving them a souvenir. When Tom came they started putting people in the back of the end zones and were chasing me down and saying this is a memorable ball. I wasn't very aware but in the heat of the moment that stuff happens."
Fortunately for Evans, that ball ended up being nothing more than a standard touchdown ball. It's very likely that all members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be more careful towards the end of the season to keep each and every touchdown ball.
How many touchdowns will Tom Brady finish with?
Brady currently has 626 touchdown passes in his career and has a huge gap on second-placed Drew Brees (571). This season, he's thrown just two in two games, putting him on pace to finish with 17. However, that pace is very unlikely to hold.
Brady threw for 43 touchdowns last year and thanks to an inauspicious start, that number is also unlikely. Somewhere in the middle, perhaps around 30, is probable.
That would put him at over 650 touchdowns for his career, a record that will more than likely stand for a long time. Brees would have to come out of retirement and have two or three MVP seasons to get close, something very unlikely to happen.
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