Tom Brady’s ‘final’ career touchdown ball sells for over $518,000 at auction

Two days after the auction closed, however, the 44-year-old quarterback announced that he would be returning for his 23rd season in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, following a six-week retirement.

The $518,000 ball featured during the Buccaneers’ home playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams on January 23.

Immediately after the game, Brady was still uncertain about his future playing career. When he announced his retirement a week later, it gave the ball extra significance as it became what was then considered his final career touchdown ball.

Rather than being preserved in a museum, the ball had reached the public domain because Evans had tossed it into the stands in celebration where it was caught by a lucky spectator. Lelands used marks and numbers on the ball to photo match it and verify its authenticity.

Last year, Lelands also auctioned Brady’s first career touchdown ball for $428,841 which was similarly tossed into the stands by the receiver who caught it, Terry Glenn.

In between engineering these two touchdowns, Brady won seven Super Bowls — an all-time record — and became the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards (84,520), touchdown passes (624), completions (7,263), regular season wins (243), playoff wins (35) and Super Bowl MVPs (five).