The person who bought Tom Brady's "last touchdown" football didn't exactly have the best timing.
Back in March, the ball Brady threw in his supposedly final touchdown pass in the NFL was sold at auction for $518,000. A month earlier, Brady announced he would retire after 22 seasons. But almost immediately after the sale was made, Brady said he wouldn't retire after all — raising the question of what would happen with that sale considering the ball no longer carries the same significance.
About a month later, the sports memorabilia website Lelands confirmed to TMZ that the sale has been voided.
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"Following Tom Brady's unretirement, and after discussions with both the buyer and consignor, we have mutually agreed to void the sale of the football," the auction said.
The sale was made just one day before Brady announced he would end his retirement after a mere six weeks and return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Now, the auction said the plan is to sell the ball "privately as per the seller's wishes," as there are "multiple parties interested in purchasing" it, and an auction expert told TMZ it's now likely worth around $50,000.
Mike Heffner, Lelands president and partner, told ESPN "we wanted to do the right thing here" and this was "the most unique situation that we'll probably ever encounter in our lifetimes — at least when it comes to sports memorabilia."
Heffner added that the announcement of the sale being voided didn't come earlier because they wanted to make sure Brady would actually stick with his decision to un-retire. "All parties were waiting to see how it played out," Heffner told ESPN. "Tom Brady, let's face it, is kind of unpredictable these days."
