When Tom Brady retired in February this year after posting an emotional 53-second video, fans didn’t entirely buy into the finality of the decision. Especially because he opened the door of a return when he came out of his 2022 retirement only 40 days after announcing it. Fans were expecting a similar announcement this time. Instead, something else came, and that gave them even bigger hopes. Brady announced that he will not be joining his Fox Sports job until 2024. And everyone assumed that meant another year on the gridiron. However, looks as though TB12 had his mind set on his entrepreneurial ventures and not a footballing return.

In August 2021, Brady partnered with Dillon Rosenblatt and Josh Payne to launch Autograph IO. Autograph is a unique NFT platform where fans can buy digital assets. The only difference is that this exclusive non-fungible token also bears the autograph of their favorite athlete. And Brady is all in on this venture, including the ‘Huddle’ recently.

Tom Brady and the Autograph Journey

Seven-time Super Bowl champion Brady has signed autographs in the strangest of places and situations. TB12 discussed it on a Discord community chat with his longtime friend and teammate, Rob Gronkowski. Brady signed a fan’s forearm, while his NE Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end weapon autographed a bunch of foreheads during football camp. However, these days, it’s not as hard to get signed memorabilia from your favorite athletes as it used to be; courtesy of Tom Brady’s Autograph.

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Brady saw the potential in the celebrity NFT ecosystem like many other top athletes like LeBron James and Steph Curry. The NFT market has grown from a $210 million industry in 2019 to a $17.7 billion industry in 2023. Autograph has turned out to be a big player in the sector as they closed a Series B round in January 2022 valued at $170 million.

Brady helped Autograph rope in many other big names on board like Apple’s Senior VP Eddy Cue, Naomi Osaka, Paul Liberman (DraftKings co-founder), and LA Dodgers owner Peter Guber.

Fox can make TB12 richer for now

Shortly after retiring, the iconic quarterback appeared in an interview with Colin Cowherd. There, he clarified that he won’t be starting his FOX Sports broadcasting job until the fall of 2024. However, Brady stands to make a whopping $375 million over 10 years in his contract with the network giants.

Instead, Autograph recently organized Brady’s unofficial retirement party/signature experience titled the Huddle. The Huddle is a collaboration with the QB, where fans can participate in community chats, exclusive collaborations, and invite-only IRL events. Also, they get Autograph merchandise- both physical and digital. “Still can’t believe what an amazing ride I had with my Autograph community this past season. Looking back at what we built together, I couldn’t be more grateful. Looking ahead to everything yet to come, I couldn’t be more excited. We’ve got even bigger things in store,” Brady tweeted. 

Surely, with this much at stake, Brady couldn’t delve into the world of broadcasting. Although Fox’s offer is slightly better by current standards. Also, with the damage his $250 million net worth took because of the bad FTX investments, Brady could have found it hard to turn down the lucrative Autograph experience.

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