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Lot # 867: First Tom Brady Sports Illustrated Cover February 13. 2002 CGC Graded 9.6

Category: Football

Starting Bid: $1,000.00

Bids: 4 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
Lot / Auction Closed




This lot is closed. Bidding is not allowed.

Item was in Auction "Summer Classic 2022",
which ran from 8/28/2022 7:00 PM to
9/17/2022 10:00 PM



Presented is the opportunity to possess the very first Tom Brady Sports Illustrated cover issue, when the consensus pro football GOAT was featured on S.I.'s cover on February 13, 2002. Brady had just led the New England Patriots to a last second Super Bowl victory over the St. Louis Rams in one of the most exciting Super Bowls in NFL history. Brady was a 6th round draft choice by the Patriots in the 2000 NFL draft, the 199th player selected. At the time, the Patriots had a solid first-string quarterback in Drew Bledsoe, and Brady appeared to be destined for a long-term back-up role. However, in Brady's second season, Bledsoe was injured, Brady took over the starting quarterback job and held onto the position, except when injured himself, even when Bledsoe became healthy. In Super Bowl XXXVI, played at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Patriots were 14-point underdogs. The tightly contested game had the Rams tying the game at 17 with only 1:30 left in the 4th Quarter. Television commentator John Madden said on the air that he thought that since the Patriots had no time outs left, that they should run out the clock and hope to win the game in overtime. However, Patriot coach Bill Belichick went for the win. He later explained his reasoning: "With a quarterback like Brady, going for the win was not that dangerous, because he's not going to make a mistake." Brady completed five passes to set up a 48-yard Adam Vinatieri filed goal that was good as time expired. In his career, Brady holds numerous records. Three particularly important ones: Most career pass completions (7,263), most passing yards (84,520), and touchdown passes (624). The 15-time Pro Bowl selection is a 3-time Associated Press NFL MVP, and he has won seven Super Bowls, six with New England and one with Tampa Bay. With such an illustrious career, Brady has appeared on 26 Sports Illustrated covers, the most recent in February 2022. The offered magazine cover shows Brady about to pass and the cover reads" Amazing! / New England Patriots 2001 Super Bowl Champions The cover". measures 8" x 10" and it has been encapsulated and graded CGC 9.6. Brady's wife, supermodel Gretchen Bunchen, has graced countless magazine covers, but Tom Brady is doing pretty well in that department as well, and this Sports Illustrated cover, as Brady's first with the magazine, makes it a valued collectible with increasing value as the years go by and eventually pro football's GOAT has his marvelous career reviewed retrospectively.  

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