10/26 6:15 AM PT -- 10/26 Brady announced on Monday night he's sweetening the pot even further for the Bucs fan ... saying he's giving the dude a full bitcoin as part of the negotiation process.
TB12 revealed the deal to Peyton and Eli Manning on their "Monday Night Football" Manningcast, telling the brothers, "At the end of the day, I think he's still making out pretty well."
Tom Brady said the Bucs fan lost all his leverage once he gave up the 600th TD ball.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 26, 2021
But Brady is giving him a bitcoin 🤑 pic.twitter.com/upGBpmcMDS
FYI -- one bitcoin is currently worth roughly $62,000 ... which still ain't $500k, but at least it's getting closer!
3:22 PM PT -- It turns out the fan who ended up with Tom Brady's 600th tuddy got quite the hookup from the Bucs ... 'cause he's getting a bunch of awesome swag in return for the pigskin.
The lucky fan is getting two signed jerseys AND a helmet from Mr. Brady himself, a Mike Evans autographed jersey and game-worn cleats and $1,000 to the team store, TMZ Sports has confirmed.
But, that's not all -- the fan is also getting 2 season tickets to the remainder of this season and next season ... so he's getting even more opportunities to get another TB12 ball.
It's still not half a milli, but it's an awesome move by the Bucs.
The guy who gave back Tom Brady's 600th TD pass ball might have cost himself a small fortune ... 'cause one memorabilia expert says the pigskin was worth at least $500K!!
Here's the deal ... after catching the record-setting touchdown pass from Brady in the 1st quarter of the Bucs' win over the Bears, Mike Evans ran over to a Tampa Bay fan and gave away the ball.
Mike Evans giving away Tom Brady's 600th TD pass is really something else; of course, the Bucs staff got that ball back for him. pic.twitter.com/Ft977N2KuZ
— Zak (@CaramelPhd) October 24, 2021
Evans didn't think much of it at the time -- he does the nice gesture after most of his TDs -- but when he got back to the sideline, he realized his blunder.
Cameras at Raymond James Stadium caught Mike full of regret over handing away the valuable item (no player in NFL history has ever thrown for 600 in their careers) ... and eventually, Bucs staffers got to work on getting it back.
Mike Evans' reaction after realizing he gave away Tom Brady's 600th TD ball 🤣 pic.twitter.com/0LSuLYjnvR
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) October 24, 2021
Somehow, during the middle of the game, the team convinced the guy to return the ball ... a move auction expert Ken Goldin says could have cost him HALF A MILLION DOLLARS -- and maybe even more than that.
The Bucs had to negotiate to get Brady’s 600th TD ball back from a fan 😂 pic.twitter.com/31WAjBJVfU
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) October 24, 2021
"Given how historic this ball is as the first 600th TD in NFL history," Goldin said, "I'd estimate this ball to be worth a minimum of $500,000 (and possibly much more)."
The fan said during an interview mid-game that he gave back the ball simply because he was told Brady really wanted it.
"The trainer came over and asked for it," the fan said. "What am I going to do? Say no to Tom Brady?"
THE MAN OF THE HOUR@rachelwest__ caught up with Byron Kennedy, the fan who Mike Evans gave Tom Brady's 600th TD ball to ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/RysqEJ2mx0
— Sports by Tampa Bay Times (@TBTimes_Sports) October 24, 2021
The fan added that he was promised some swag and maybe a handshake from Brady in return for it all.
As for Brady's side of it all, he was pleased with the guy's good gesture -- telling reporters after the game, "He’s going to get something nice in return."
"We'll get him a helmet or a couple of jerseys or some other stuff. It was really cool of him to do that."
Originally Published -- 10/25 6:18 AM PT