KING OF SUPER BOWLS
Tom Brady’s 10th title game appearance draws collectors to his 2020 Buccaneers cards
Apparently, Tom Brady can now just pick a team and take them to a Super Bowl. At 43 years old, he led a Buccaneers team coming of three-straight losing seasons to an 11-5 record. Super Bowl LV is Brady’s 10th title game, which lies somewhere between marvel-ous and absurd. With 10 Super Bowl appearances in 19 full seasons as a starter, Brady has a 53 percent chance of making it to the title game. He’s appeared in 18 percent of all Super Bowls.
Over the past 20 years, plenty of people said Brady was a product of New England’s system, or gave the credit to Bill Belichick. Yet, here he is again, and it’s not as if the Buccaneers carried him through the season. He had the second-most pass attempts (610) and passing touchdowns (40) in the NFL. His 4,633 yards were fifth-most in his career. Just one teammate—defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul—made the Pro Bowl.
ESPN ranked Tom Brady’s toughest Super Bowl paths and placed this 2020 season No. 1. It certainly was his longest postseason entering as a Wild Card team. He faced Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and Patrick Mahomes in the regular season and again in the postseason. Tampa Bay’s opponents had a combined record of 46-18 (.719). In the fi nal six games of the regular season as the Bucs fought for a playoff spot, Brady went 5-1 with the only loss coming 27-24 against the Chiefs. In all six games, he had a passer rating of at least 96 and tossed 17 touch-downs to three interceptions. Aside from his tight end buddy Rob Gronkowski, this was a completely new team, new division and new conference for Brady.
Patrick Mahomes was in kindergarten when Brady won his first Super Bowl. Now, the G.O.A.T. and perhaps the next G.O.A.T. face off in Super Bowl LV. If Brady defeats Mahomes and hoists the Lombardi Trophy for a seventh time, his cards that could be impacted the most may not be his Rookie Cards. Brady has 44 Rookie Cards, including 15 with a high-book value of at least $1,000. Sixteen can be found for less than $500. But many savvy collectors have shi ed focus to early career cards and new 2020 cards picturing him in a Buccaneers uniform, which may become even more significant since they would mark his title in just one season with the team.
Since he was a late sixth-round pick in 2000, not much thought was given to producing Brady cards in 2001. He has just a handful. e 2001 Pacific Prism Atomic Jersey Patches #125 is Brady’s first jersey card. It can reach $1,000 and has a patch variation. e 2001 Upper Deck Rookie F/X #54 sells for as much as $80, and the 2001 Playoff Preferred #33 is an easy pick-up for $10.
A er Brady won Super Bowl XXXVI in his second season, the hobby got a flood of his cards in 2002, including firsts in Topps, Topps Chrome and Finest since he didn’t have a Rookie Card in any of those products. e 2002 Topps Chrome Refractors #100 is numbered to 599 and sells for up to $400.
e base card can be found for less than $50. Compare those prices to his 2002 Bowman Chrome Refractors
#99 (limited to 500) for $60, considering this was Brady’s second appearance in Bowman Chrome. His 2002 Finest Refractors #50 is even harder to find at 250 copies, but at an affordable $25 to $60. Two “second” cards from brands that delivered two of Brady’s most valuable RCs are 2002 SP Authentic #1 and 2002 SPx #6. Both top out at around $50, but high-grade versions can bring 10 times as much.
Brady’s first base cards in Panini Prizm and Donruss Optic have also garnered plenty of attention as collectors look for significant cards other than his rookieyear issues and autographs. e 2012 Panini Prizm #116 (part of the first Prizm football set) can sell for up to $100. Gem Mint 10 grades can bring nearly $1,000. Likewise, Brady’s first Donruss Optic base card #62 is in the 2016 release. It’s roughly one-third the value of the Prizm.