Ryan has plans to auction off Brady’s final Patriots ball

As Tom Brady prepares to throw his first pass against the Patriots, whatever happened to the ball from his last pass with the dynasty?

Funny story — and particularly relevant as Brady leads the Buccaneers against Bill Belichick’s Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., on Sunday night in the most-anticipated NFL regular-season game in years.

Giants safety Logan Ryan (who played with Brady in the Patriots from 2013-16), while playing for the Titans in the 2019 AFC wild-card playoffs, intercepted Brady’s final pass with New England and returned it for a touchdown to seal a 20-13 upset win.

“The ball was just laying around my house,” Ryan said. “My kids were kicking the ball around. When I saw some of Tom’s autographed cards starting to go for like $1 million, I put the ball up on a shelf. I actually spoke with Tom this offseason and when the time is right … I want to auction the ball off for the proceeds for my charity if we can get behind it, [or] to split our charities.”

Ryan won two Super Bowls in four seasons with the Patriots before moving to the Titans for three seasons and joining the Giants last season. He and his wife, Ashley, founded the Ryan Animal Rescue Foundation, and Brady started the TB12 Foundation.

“I don’t know who is going to want that [ball],” Ryan said. “I don’t know if a Patriots fan wants his last ball ever thrown — it’s an interception. I don’t know if Titans fans are really going to pay. Tom might want it back.”

Ryan, a big football fan and historian, is looking forward to the “Sunday Night Football” broadcast after the Giants play at New Orleans. It is billed as Belichick versus Brady as much as Patriots versus Buccaneers.

“I can’t say they will treat it as business as usual, but they will do everything they can to win,” Ryan said. “A maniacal amount of filmwatching. I’m sure they are spending more time watching film than sleeping. It’s going to be a game [between] two geniuses. If you are a fan, it’s a good game to watch to see the strategic part of the game.”

➤ WR Sterling Shepard (hamstring), WR Darius Slayton (hamstring) and LG Ben Bredeson (hand) will not play Sunday against the Saints. Bredeson’s absence means the Giants will be starting a fourth left guard in as many games — probably Matt Skura — and their 16th different offensive line combination (19 different individual starters) in the last 52 games.

DB Keion Crossen (elbow), LB Tae Crowder (hamstring), DB Nate Ebner

(quad) and TE Kaden Smith (knee) are questionable. RB Saquon Barkley and WR Kenny Golladay were among those limited in Friday’s practice but are not listed on the injury report.

➤ WR Kadarius Toney grew up two hours away from New Orleans in Mobile, Ala., and couldn’t fulfill all the ticket requests he received. The rookie firstround pick is expected to have an expanded role in the slot with Shepard sidelined.

“If I could,” Toney said, “my whole city would be there.”