Kim Klement/USA Today Sports
Tom Brady, the future Hall of Fame quarterback, announced his retirement for good this past week in an emotional video filmed on a sandy beach.
Now, jars of beach sand said to be from the exact spot he filmed his retirement video are being auctioned online, with bidding for one nearly reaching six figures.
“Tom Brady’s exact retirement spot—Bottled Sand,” says an auction announcement posted on eBay. As of Sunday, the auction has 119 bids, with the top one currently at $99,900. The auction for this jar ends Feb. 12.
The Miami-based seller placed the jar on the online auction site the day after Brady shared a video on social media announcing his retirement on Feb. 1. The video was reportedly shot on a beach in Miami.
“I’ll get to the point right away. I’m retiring. For good,” the former New England Patriot and Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback said in the clip.
In Brady’s announcement video, sand dunes and two high-rise buildings are visible on the shoreline behind the 45-year-old football player, who relocated to Florida after signing with the Buccaneers in 2020.
In the auction ad, the seller said it used the buildings seen in the retirement video as landmarks to locate the beach. Screenshots of Brady’s video with arrows pointing out the buildings behind him were included in the ad. The same buildings are seen in the background of additional ad photos of two Mason jars with sand from the beach.
In the ad, the seller touts the sand as the only samples taken on Feb. 1, just hours after Brady’s announcement.
“You will be owning the very land the GOAT retired on,” the ad says, referring to the acronym for “greatest of all time.” The seller didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The listings are permitted under eBay’s policies as long as the ads are posted in the right category and the sellers don’t offer certificates of authenticity, which can’t be verified for these types of items, according to a company spokesman.
The ad says the seller hopes to donate the second jar of sand to “The Pat McAfee Show,” a weekday sports talk show hosted by the former Indianapolis Colts punter. Mr. McAfee didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The seller started the bidding at $677, a nod to Brady’s career regular season touchdowns. He threw an NFL record 649 touchdown passes and added 28 rushing scores during his 23 regular seasons. Brady also holds the postseason record for touchdown passes with 88.
While the seller has only put one jar up for sale on eBay, competitors have joined the game.
At least seven other similar eBay ads have appeared on the auction site. Although there is no way to confirm the sand is from the beach where Mr. Brady shot his video, the jars have been listed at prices ranging from $100 to $24,000.
Brady returned to play for a 23rd season after briefly retiring a year ago. The Buccaneers won the NFC South with an 8-9 record but were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round with a 31-14 blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Considered by many to be the greatest quarterback in NFL history, Brady won a record seven Super Bowls, including six with the Patriots and one during his three years with the Buccaneers.
This story first appeared on The Wall Street Journal.