Brady previously announced his retirement a year ago, citing a desire to spend time with loved ones and a lack of ability to give the sport his all. He changed his mind and rejoined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a month later.
There are several other listings on eBay claiming to sell sand from Brady's retirement video that have photos of just the buildings or the same photo of a mason jar as gadgetgs' listing. Bids range from $33 to $10,000.
gadgetgs made the claim that their sand is unique in that they collected the memorabilia mere hours after Brady posted his video.
"You will find no other listing like this, no one else took a sample on Feb 1st after the GOAT posted his real retirement," the listing said. "You will be owning the very land the GOAT retired on."
That's according to ESPN and NFL Network, who claim sources close to Brady say he filmed his retirement announcement video 'a while ago.' Furthermore, the Boston Globe says Brady told his parents a week ago that he would retire.
They quoted his father, Tom Brady Sr. as saying: 'We're not shocked by any means. He has played football for 32 years out of his 45, living his dream for three-fourths of his life. It's been a wonderful ride. He's very secure in his decision.'
NFL Network's Peter Schrager also tweeted on Wednesday: 'Per sources close to Brady, the video posted this AM was filmed prior to this morning. Kept this one awfully quiet.'
Schrager expanded on the news on Wednesday's episode of 'Good Morning Football.'
'That was filmed a while ago,' Schrager said on the show. 'He was at an L.A. premiere Tuesday night, doing the movie premiere [for '80 for Brady'].
'The sun is not up in L.A. as you see there. So that is a taping, that means he has known this and has kept this quiet for at least 48 hours.'
The seven-time Super Bowl Champ retired with 649 passing touchdowns and 28 rushing touchdowns in his lengthy career, according to NFL.com.
The seller, who notes that the sand was collected hours after Brady’s retirement video, revealed the highest bidder will receive one of the two 8oz mason jars they collected.
Photo proof is provided in the listing, and the seller says video proof of the sand being collected is available upon request.
You will find no other listing like this,” the seller assures bidders in the listing. “No one else took a sample on Feb. 1 after the GOAT posted his real retirement. You will be owning the very land the GOAT retired on.”
The eBay seller, Gadgetgs, who is charging an extra $5.25 for shipping and is not accepting returns, has a polished seller rating of 100% with 487 ratings.
Since the listing went up, other listings ranging from $1 to $19K attempted to follow suit in hopes of earning a payday.
The market for Brady's sand was created by a TikTok personality, Betr Carol, who is trying to recoup some gambling losses.
'I was a Tom Brady fan for a really long time and I'm actually sitting exactly where he retired this morning,' Carol said in the self-shot video. 'You can see the buildings, they're the exact same.'
At that point, Carol reveals a bag of sand.
'Every dollar I lost from betting on you this season, I will be making back because I'm going to sell the sand you sat on as you retired. So, thank you, Tom Brady.'
On eBay, Carol helps prove the authenticity of her jar of sand by photographing it in front of Brady’s retirement video backdrop. She also includes a copy of the February 1 edition of The New York Times to prove that the photos are recent. A user by the name of gadgetgs went on eBay to sell the sand. They posted a picture of a bottle of the sand with the same buildings in the background that were featured in Brady's retirement video. They also included a picture of the New York Times newspaper dated Feb. 1 to ensure that the sand was, in fact, from the same time that Brady announced he was hanging up his cleats.
gadgetgs has a 100% positive feedback rate from 489 reviews on eBay and has sold 55 items since joining the auction site in 2009. They are also selling hand soaps on their account.
Brady posted the video announcing his retirement early Wednesday, saying: 'Good morning guys. I'll get to the point right away. I'm retiring, for good.
'I know the process was a pretty big deal last time so when I woke up this morning I figured I'd just press record and let you guys know first.'
'It won't be long-winded. You only get one super emotional retirement essay and I used mine up last year, so... really, thank you guys so much to every single one of you for supporting me.
The bidding war began Thursday when the user listed the sand at $677 in honor of Brady’s total career touchdowns. The auction is set to end on Feb. 12 at 2:43 p.m. (EST).
Over the past few days, the bidding skyrocketed from its original price to $15K before reaching nearly $100k on Saturday morning.
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