FB_TomBrady — Michigan Wolverines quarterback Tom Brady in action against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. (RVR Photos – USA TODAY Sports)

A Random Arkansas House Has Valuable Memorabilia to the Day Brady Became Brady

If sand is worth six figures then how much will something from the day an NFL MVP went from barely average to great against the Razorbacks worth?

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Feb 4, 2023 12:18 PM EST

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Somewhere in the state of Arkansas, probably tucked into the side of a mirror for the past couple of decades, a Razorback fan has a nice down payment toward a new house just collecting dust.

When Tom Brady announced the other day that he intended to retire, someone ran down to the spot on the beach in Surfside, Florida where he filmed the announcement, broke out a Mason jar and filled it full of sand.

That person then put the sand on eBay, complete with a photo of it from the same angle as the Brady video, and listed it at $677. As of this morning, that jar of sand is going for $100,000 and has been steadily climbing.

So, if a jar of sand from where Brady took a few seconds to film a video on what appears to be his phone is going for six figures, what might some unsuspecting Arkansas fans be sitting on that could change their lives?

For those who don't know, it was a game against Arkansas in the Citrus Bowl during Brady's first season as a starter at Michigan that really put the skinny, yet doughy quarterback onto the radar of NFL teams as a potential late round pick.

The era of Tom Brady got off to a disastrous start. He took over for Brian Griese, who had achieved legendary status in Ann Arbor by holding off Brady in a quarterback battle the year before and leading Michigan to what would be its final national championship.

His chance to endear himself to Michigan fans fell by the wayside immediately as the Wolverines lost in a blowout to Notre Dame to open the season and then to Syracuse by double digits in the Big House.

It didn't help that with an offense stuck in the mud, the defense had to essentially pitch shutouts to keep the Wolverines from falling into a losing season. In October, Michigan managed to win road games at Iowa, Northwestern and Minnesota despite Brady and the offense only putting up 12, 12 and 15 points respectively.

In the game that a handful of people will point to as Brady's breakout game, the defense was unable to carry the load any longer as Ohio State ran Michigan at the Horseshoe in Columbus, 31-16.

Sure Brady posted 375 yards, which is why it gets pointed to as his coming out party, but he only threw one touchdown while giving up a pair of interceptions in a bad loss. Those yards were inflated by desperation in 4th quarter garbage time with the game already way out of reach.

While it was a bit of a shocker for Michigan fans that they would end up in the Citrus Bowl against Arkansas after such a terrible start, it was equally as shocking for Arkansas fans to end up there.

The Razorbacks were a national championship contender pretty much all season. Even after the Clint Stoerner fumble cost Arkansas snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in Tennessee against the eventual national champion Volunteers, the general thought was that the Razorbacks would get revenge in the SEC championship game and go on to take down Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship.

But then Todd Latourette, one of the more prolific field goal kickers in Arkansas history, got arrested and suspended before the Mississippi State game for drunk driving.

To put things in perspective, his 1998 season ranks among the best for most field goals made despite missing the Mississippi State game. He also holds the Arena Football League record for longest field goal at 58 yards while with the Tennessee Valley Vipers.

Without Latourette, Arkansas coach Houston Nutt was unwilling to kick a field goal. The Hogs got inside the Mississippi State 20 twice late in the game without attempting a field goal and ended up losing 22-21.

A tiebreaker allowed the Bulldogs to go on to the SEC championship game and sent a dejected Razorback team to the Citrus Bowl.

Still, Arkansas looked to be back to its old self against Michigan. Arkansas dominated the second half, scoring three unanswered touchdowns to take a 31-24 lead while the defense stifled Brady.

Jeromy Flowers and Zach Painter each came up with interceptions that led to Arkansas touchdowns.

Then, with just over five minutes to go, Tom Brady suddenly became Tom Brady. He completed a pass on 4th & 2 to sustain a drive, setting up an Anthony Thomas touchdown run.

He then hit a 21-yard touchdown pass on the following drive to put the game away. Michigan tacked on another touchdown after running back a Stoerner interception to make the game look way worse than it was.

The most important thing for Brady was that it showed that he could remain stoic following a pair of interceptions and lead his team back in big time games. It was the first time NFL scouts got to see the cold-blooded side of the future NFL MVP.

Brady used the confidence gained in that game to throw for over 2,200 yards the following season, a lot in those days, and took down No. 5 Alabama in the Orange Bowl for an AP Top 5 finish.

Somewhere in this state, tucked in a shoe box, under the clear plastic of a photo album or covered in dust in the lower corner of a mirror is a ticket stub from that Citrus Bowl game.

If sand is going for as much as it is, then how valuable is a ticket to the game where Tom Brady first found his inner Tom Brady in a big moment?

If it's ever going to be sold, now is the time.

And if someone finds something from that game and decides to sell it, especially if it's even more closely related to Tom Brady on a personal level, please send us a message on Twitter to let us know so we can monitor how it sells and let the world know that a piece of history from the day the average at best Tom Brady transformed into the great Tom Brady is on the market.

Happy hunting Arkansas.