Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady threw his 600th touchdown pass on Sunday, but his tight end unwittingly tossed the historical game ball to a fan in the stands—meaning team officials had to go retrieve it.
The ball recipient, a Bucs fan named Byron Kennedy, promptly gave the ball back. But Brady nonetheless offered him a gift in the form of signed jerseys and a helmet, as well as season tickets for next year and the rest of this one.
Then on Monday, the NFL legend revealed he had thrown in an even more valuable prize: one Bitcoin, which is currently worth more than $60,000. Speaking to Peyton and Eli Manning on ESPN during Monday Night Football, Brady joked that Kennedy made a mistake in giving the ball back right away.
Tom Brady said the Bucs fan lost all his leverage once he gave up the 600th TD ball.
But Brady is giving him a bitcoin
pic.twitter.com/upGBpmcMDS
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 26, 2021
Peyton Manning jokingly asked Brady if the ball is already in Canton, Ohio—where the Pro Football Hall of Fame is located—or if Brady had already made it into an NFT.
Brady responded by plugging Autograph, the NFT platform he co-launched this summer that has attracted numerous high profile athletes and celebrities.
“It’s shortly an NFT,” joked Brady. “Autograph.io, you go there to bid on it.”
As for Kennedy, during a TV interview of his own on Monday, a sports reporter asked if he would like to renegotiate the package he received for returning the game ball.
“Renegotiate, no. But maybe play a round of golf with Tom as a repayment? I think that would be pretty cool,” said Kennedy.
Byron Kennedy did NOT want money from the @Buccaneers for that football. BUT, he tells me he does have one request. Can we make this happen, @TomBrady ??@nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/k6sQB16yMj
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) October 25, 2021
It was not clear if Kennedy made the remark before or after learning that his gift package will include one Bitcoin. Neither Brady nor the Buccaneers immediately commented on the golf request.
As of Monday night, an NFT of the game ball had yet to appear on Autograph.io, which offers other collectibles from famous athletes like Simone Biles and Derek Jeter, and which has recently added musician The Weeknd and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to its board.
