Tom Brady‘s card-collecting habit just cost him big. The seven-time Super Bowl champion reportedly went all in to land a rare Fernando Mendoza card. Brady has not confirmed the exact number, but he did admit he went the extra mile to get his hands on it.

“There’s a Fernando Mendoza card that came out that I sent you, and I said, ‘I need this,'” Brady told the crowd at the Fanatics Fest. “I found it, and I got it—my first NFL auto one of one.”

Brady then showed the card for everyone to see.

“I know how hard he works; he’s got a great family, and he’s coming to a great environment for success, so I figured I’ve got to invest in it. And you know what, the card was not easy to find. I know there’s a lot of negotiations that went back and forth for quite a bit. Ended up paying a very hefty price.”

This is not anything new to Brady, who loves collecting trading cards. In 2025, Complex and Fanatics created a series about trading cards featuring celebrities in popular culture. In the first episode, Brady gave an insight into his love for card collecting.

“The only thing I ever collected was trading cards,” he said, reflecting on his childhood hobby. “They were always kind of rewards for good grades.”

Interestingly, Brady has a 50% stake in the Boston-based Card Vault. The company buys, sells, trades, and grades cards.

Brady, who owns a minority stake in the Raiders, clearly sees something special in Mendoza. The rookie quarterback just wrapped up a stellar collegiate run, and the Raiders brought him in with hopes he’d become their franchise quarterback.

“It’s a true win-win, so I get the card that I want, it’s going to bring our team a lot of luck, and it’s going to hopefully launch Fernando into a great young career,” Brady said.

For now, it seems very likely that Mendoza will have to wait in the wings for some time. The Raiders signed veteran Kirk Cousins this year, giving the rookie time to learn behind him before taking over. Mendoza’s offseason was a mix of good and bad, while Cousins seems to be leading the QB1 race.

We’ll have to wait and watch if that card does what Brady hopes for Fernando Mendoza.

The rookie is also a card collector and owns a very special one in his collection. In May this year, he revealed to Topps that he traded for the 2025 Bowman Chrome University 1/1 SuperFractor of himself. In exchange for the card, Mendoza, like Brady, had to pull out the stops: he offered the other party some tickets to college football playoff games and a jersey.