Unique, game-used sports memorabilia is worth a pretty penny, and that’s because they’re one of the kind.
A fan at Sunday’s Buccaneers-Bears game sat in his seat at approximately 1PM and had no idea that he would end up with one of those nearly priceless objects in his hands less than a few hours later.
After Tom Brady threw his 600th career touchdown, Mike Evans, the recipient of the pass, accidentally gave it to a fan in the first row. A Buccaneers equipment staffer quickly came over not too long after and asked for the pigskin back, which the fan obliged to.
If that fan chose to not give it back or simply left, he would have walked away with at minimum, half a million bucks.
The ball could fetch “minimum $500,000” at auction, Ken Goldin, founder and executive chairman of Goldin Auctions, said. Chris Ivy of Heritage Auctions echoed that valuation. Ezra Levine, CEO of the sports memorabilia investment platform Collectible declared the ball worth “easily $500,000-plus” and probably “closer to $750,000.”
The fan, who was identified as Tampa native Byron Kennedy, sat down with an interview with the Tampa Bay Times during the game following all that went down.
