TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady announced on ESPN that he is rewarding Bucs fan Byron Kennedy with a Bitcoin for returning the ball used in his 600th touchdown pass.
Kennedy was standing in the end zone with a friend when Brady threw his historic touchdown pass. But wide receiver Mike Evans didn’t realize it was a historic pass and tossed the ball to Kennedy as a keepsake. The team later had to do a bit of negotiating to get it back.
Brady first brought up the Bitcoin prior to the “Monday Night Football” appearance, announcing the idea of making sure Kennedy received a gift.
Experts say if Kennedy had kept and later sold the ball on the open market, it could have been worth in the range of $500,000.
In exchange for returning the ball, the team gave Kennedy two signed Brady jerseys, a Brady helmet, a signed Mike Evans jersey and game cleats, two season tickets for the remainder of 2021 and the 2022 season along with another game ball and a gift certificate for merchandise in the team store.
Now he’s getting a Bitcoin from Brady, too. If you’re doing the math at home, the current price of Bitcoin is $62,999. It’s not quite the mortgage-level value the ball may have been worth, but it’s a nice addition to the other gifts Kennedy is also getting.