Meet the Bucs fan who got Tom Brady's 600th touchdown ball, then gave it up

TAMPA – Byron Kennedy and his close friend Riley Carvalis say they've been Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans since birth. They’ve attended Bucs games since they were in high school, but they may never top the experience they shared Sunday.

Quarterback Tom Brady, 44, became the only player in NFL history to throw 600 career touchdowns with a 9-yard pass to receiver Mike Evans with seconds remaining in the first quarter of a 38-3 win over the Chicago Bears.

Evans spotted Kennedy in the first row wearing a Mike Evans jersey and threw the football to him immediately after the play — not realizing he had just given away Brady’s 600th career touchdown pass.

Kennedy said he did not realize the magnitude of possessing that football until Brady’s accomplishment was announced to the crowd at Raymond James Stadium. And Kennedy certainly did not fathom what the football would be worth if he wanted to sell it to the highest bidder.

Ultimately, he gave it to Brady and the Buccaneers.

“I’m obviously yelling, ‘Big Mike!’ in my Mike Evans jersey,” said Kennedy, a 29-year-old doctor of internal medicine at Largo Medical Center in Largo, Florida. “He ran up and he was trying to get my attention. He jumped up and gave me the ball.

“We were hype. We got the ball, right?” Carvalis said. “And they announced it, and everybody is freaking out.”

After posing for a picture with the 600th touchdown football, it wasn’t long before a Buccaneers staff member approached Kennedy to retrieve the keepsake.

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Brady, who said he has not kept much memorabilia during his career, was thankful to take the football home after throwing four touchdowns against the Bears.

“Mike gave it away. [He said] ‘Man, I’m sorry.’ I said, ‘It’s all right. I’m sure we’ll figure out a way to get it back,’” said Brady, who kept the football in his camouflage duffel bag after the game. “I don’t actually keep too many things, so in that circumstance, I felt like that would be a good one to keep.”

Evans, who did not speak after the game, posted to Twitter: "Sorry big bro glad that priceless legendary item was retrieved."

Kennedy was at first reluctant to give up the football, but he quickly relented when the Bucs trainer told him that Brady wanted to keep it.

“You don’t say no to Tom Brady,” Kennedy said. “I said no at first. I really wanted it. But it’s Tom Brady. He just won us a Super Bowl.”

Added Carvalis: “You respect the G.O.A.T.”

Kennedy received another football from the Buccaneers in place of No. 600. He gave the team his home address and hopes to receive at least one signed Brady jersey and some game-worn Buccaneers memorabilia. During the game, the Buccaneers gave Kennedy a $1,000 gift card to the team store, he said.

Kennedy was hoping to meet Brady, but the team could not fulfill that request because of COVID-19 protocols.

So how much could the football be worth? It’s hard to say, given how sports memorabilia appreciates with time, significance, exclusivity and players involved. One of Brady’s rookie cards sold for $3.107 million during an auction in June, while the football from Brady’s first career touchdown pass sold for $428,842 at the same auction.

Other footballs sold include a Johnny Unitas-Raymond Berry touchdown pass from the 1958 NFL title game for more than $62,000 and a football from the New England Patriots’ Deflategate scandal that sold for more than $43,000.

Asked if they had any regrets about not keeping the football, Kennedy made light of the life lesson from the experience. “We got a lot smarter the last two hours,” he said.

Kennedy was invited to the game a week ago by Carvalis, who has purchased season tickets for four of the past five seasons. They shot 18 holes of golf before the 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff and left the Buccaneers game with an experience they’ll remember for a lifetime.

“You get the hugs. You get the high fives. But not this,” Carvalis said. “It’s a little bit different. Tom Brady adds a different atmosphere, let’s just say that.”