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Patriots owner Robert Kraft buys signed Tom Brady rookie card at auction while sitting with Tom Brady

Kraft, while sitting next to his former QB in New York on Tuesday night, landed the card for $120,000

ryan young
Staff writer
·2 min read

Though he’s collected plenty of memorabilia over the years, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft secured a new piece of Tom Brady history on Tuesday night.

Kraft purchased an autographed rookie Brady card for $120,000 at a Sotheby’s and Fanatics auction in New York on Tuesday. The card, which had an impressive 9.5 grade, featured the longtime Patriots quarterback from his first season in the league in 2000. Brady, of course, was at the auction with Kraft and was sitting next to him when he purchased it.

The card was one of four Brady trading cards auctioned off in the event.

Brady spent most of his career with the Patriots, where he helped build one of the best dynasties the sport has ever seen. He won six Super Bowls during his 20 seasons with the Patriots, who first selected him in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft out of Michigan. He won three Super Bowl titles in his first four years with the franchise, and then won three in a five-year stretch that ended after the 2018 campaign.

The three-time MVP, who won a seventh Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before he retired after the 2022 season, finished his career with a league-record 89,214 yards and 649 touchdowns. He went 219-64 with the Patriots, and he’s sure to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame once he’s eligible in 2028. The Patriots inducted him into their Hall of Fame and retired his No. 12 jersey earlier this summer.

Brady is now several games into his broadcasting career with Fox. He took over as the network’s lead analyst this season, and now calls games with Kevin Burkhardt, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi each week.

Outside of the Brady cards, there were several other notable sales at the auction. A Shohei Ohtani rookie card from 2018 opened the sale and went for $336,000 — which was more than double the high estimate and set a new record for an Ohtani trading card. That came just days after the Los Angeles Dodgers star became the first player in league history to record 50 home runs and 50 steals in a single season. Multiple LeBron James autographed cards were sold, too, along with an Elly De La Cruz rookie card and a Roberto Clemente rookie card that went for $840,000.