Rookie Tom Brady card just sold for a record-breaking amount

We all know by now that TB #12 is going to go down as one of the all-time greatest football players/quarterbacks ever to step foot on a gridiron. And that’s coming from a passionate Jets fan with years of heartbreak. Whether you love him or hate him, you have to admit that Tom Brady has made his mark in the NFL and the world of professional sports as a whole. So, it’s easy to comprehend why his original rookie card would sell for such a staggering amount of money.

In what follows, we’ll be talking more about the sale of this card and what makes it such a sought-after piece for passionate collectors. 

To begin, the sale of this 2000 Playoff Contenders rookie card took place sometime in early March (I believe it was around March 4th) and has had collectors in the sports card world talking about it ever since. In true Tom Brady style, his rookie card saw a BIG win when the bidding was over and the price reached well-over a cool million. It was $1.32 million, to be exact, which is a record price for any football card ever sold. 

Now, this obviously isn’t the only Brady 2000 Playoff Contenders rookie card out there and it certainly isn’t the first time that it’s seen an auction block. In fact, another rookie card just like it (graded at PSA 9 - Mint) sold for over $400,000 not at auction not so long ago. Before the sale of this particular card, the most expensive price ever paid for a football card was auctioned and sold for over $800,000 earlier this year. In case you were wondering, that card was an autographed Patrick Mahomes piece, which is no surprise since both he and Brady are the two most successful QBs in the league today. 

So, what puts this rookie Brady card above all of the rest that have come before? Well, like everything else, it all came down to the autograph, authenticity, player, and PSA grade, which we’ve spoken about in previous card sale posts. The autograph, age, and player obviously played an important role, but what really sealed the deal, so to speak, and put this card over the million-dollar mark was its PSA 10 grade, which means it was Gem-MT (Gem Mint). 

Up until I really started studying PSA grades and sports card collecting in general, I thought that Mint condition is what everyone wanted, but as it turns out, there is one more level above Mint and that is Gem Mint. Gem Mint is the highest grade that a card can be given on PSA’s grading scale. In order for a card to be considered Gem Mint, it must be in absolutely perfect condition. Not nearly perfect and not just about perfect, it must be perfectly flawless in every way both front and back. According to PSA, this particular version of Tom Brady’s 2000 Playoff Contenders rookie card was exactly that, which is why it sold for $1.32 million dollars.

The name of the winning bidder hasn’t been disclosed, and if I was in their place, I wouldn’t want my name published either. But, whoever they are, for them to have enough green to spend on a football card all I can do is applaud and wish them the best. I can only imagine what it will be worth when Brady retires 10 years from now, which at this rate, seems like a possibility...hehe!

Let me know your thoughts on the sale of this card and whether you think there is another football card (either the same or different) that has the potential to sell for even more.

Until we meet again,

Vince The Prince