Bucs fan gave back Tom Brady’s 600th TD ball. Here’s what he really wants in return
Tom Brady threw his 600th touchdown pass Sunday. Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan Byron Kennedy might have thrown away $500,000 at the same game.
Kennedy was sitting in the front row behind the end zone at Raymond James Stadium when receiver Mike Evans caught the pass that made Brady the only NFL quarterback to reach that milestone.
Evans spotted Kennedy wearing his No. 13 jersey and gifted him the ball. Neither of them realized the significance of the ball at the time.
The Buccaneers knew, though, and sent a team official to try to get the ball back for Brady.
It has been estimated that Kennedy could have auctioned off the ball for at least $500,000.
Instead, the internal medicine resident gave it back out of the kindness of his heart.
“What am I gonna do, say no to Tom Brady?” Kennedy told the Tampa Bay Times.
What a nice gesture. Surely, Brady — whose estimated worth is $250 million and is married to someone with an estimated worth higher than that — wouldn’t mock Kennedy about it on national TV, would he?
“Byron realized he lost all his leverage once he gave the ball away,” Brady joked on Peyton and Eli Manning’s “Monday Night Football” simulcast the next night. “He should have held it to get as much leverage as possible.”
Brady did mention that he’s giving Kennedy a bitcoin (currently worth more than $62,000) through FTX, a cryptocurrency firm in which he and his wife, Gisele Bündchen, have an equity stake.
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Kennedy will also receive two autographed jerseys and a helmet from Brady, an autographed jersey and game-worn cleats from Evans and season tickets through the end of the 2022 season and $1,000 credit toward the team store from the Buccaneers.
All cool stuff that Kennedy couldn’t have dreamed he’d be getting when he showed up to watch the Bucs play the Chicago Bears that day.
Still not close to being worth half a million dollars.
Offered a hypothetical chance by NFL Network to renegotiate the deal, the apparently super cool and laid-back Kennedy declined.
“Renegotiate, no,” he said. “But maybe play a round of golf with Tom as a repayment? I think that’d be pretty cool.”
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