The buyer of the ball that was supposedly Tom Brady’s final NFL touchdown pass has scored the ultimate Hail Mary.
Lelands has announced that the auction culminating in the purchase of the football for more than $518,000 has been voided.
“Following Tom Brady’s unretirement, and after discussions with both the buyer and consignor, we have mutually agreed to void the sale of the football,” Lelands said in a statement issued Thursday night. “The ball has not been returned to the consignor, and the plan now is for Lelands to sell it privately as per the seller’s wishes. There are multiple parties interested in purchasing the football.”
It’s a surprising turn of events, given that the buyer should have known that Brady possibly would end his retirement. Indeed, at the time the auction closed, rumors were rampant that Brady would end his short-lived retirement from football.
There may be nuances of auction law with which I’m not familiar. But this one was oozing with “buyer beware.” Ultimately, the buyer was saved from the buyer’s own foolish assumption that the ball thrown to receiver Mike Evans late in the playoff loss to the Rams — a ball that Evans then threw into the stands — would indeed be Tom Brady’s final career touchdown pass.
That distinction will ultimately go to some other football. But if another football that will supposedly be Brady’s last anything goes to auction before he turns, say, 60, whoever buys it should realize that there’s always a chance Brady will find his way back onto a football field.