A lucky Buccaneers fan out there really owes Mike Evans a thank you because they just scored a massive pay day.
It has been Evans’ post-touchdown routine over the years to give the football to someone in the stands. And when Tom Brady arrived in Tampa Bay, that habit caused some issues for the Bucs because Evans found himself giving away historically significant footballs without even realizing it.
While the Bucs and Brady made an effort to recover the 600th touchdown pass football, the final touchdown pass of Brady’s career was allowed to remain with a fan because it came in a losing effort. Evans caught the touchdown pass with 3:20 remaining in the Bucs’ playoff game against the Rams. The Bucs were rallying at the time, so it didn’t occur to anyone that the football was going to be Brady’s final NFL touchdown pass.
Mike Evans doing Mike Evans things.
— Darius Butler (@DariusJButler) January 23, 2022
And that was great news for whoever got the ball from Evans because this person got PAID.
According to the auctioneer Lelands, Brady’s final touchdown pass sold early Sunday morning for $518,628.
On 6/4/2021, @Lelandsdotcom sold the football from Tom Brady's first touchdown pass for $428,841
Last night, Lelands sold the football from his final touchdown pass for $518,628 pic.twitter.com/79YA3391Ik
— Bradley Calleja (@bradleycalleja) March 13, 2022
The sale came about a year after Lelands sold Brady’s first NFL touchdown ball for $428,841.
You can’t really blame Evans for giving the football away because Brady hadn’t even announced his retirement yet, and the Bucs were still hoping for a few more touchdown passes from No. 12. But again, Evans really did make someone out there quite a bit richer.