EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Tom Brady rarely heard cheers when he was in New Jersey playing in the NFL but the environment at the American Dream on Friday night was completely different than what it was at MetLife Stadium during his career.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion opened a CardVault by Tom Brady premium trading card store at the American Dream. It’s the first flagship store located outside of the Boston Area.
Brady fans wearing New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers gear flocked to the enormous shopping center and filled all three levels just to get a glimpse of the legendary quarterback. He spoke to co-founder Chris Costa for a brief Q&A session before he had a treat for the fans.
He showed off his legendary arm, firing footballs into the crowd – not showing any signs of rust. Fans were extremely excited about the possibility of catching a football from one of the greatest players of all time.
Brady spoke about some of the favorite trading cards in his collections. One, a dual autograph with San Francisco 49ers legend Joe Montana, and the other he has of teammates Randy Moss, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski and Wes Welker.
He talked about his admiration for Montana first.
TOM BRADY OPENS CARDVAULT SPORTS CARD STORE AT AMERICAN DREAM, OPTIMISTIC ABOUT HOBBY
“The San Francisco 49ers were the team to beat in the NFL and they had a tremendous run from the early 80s through the late 90s – they were a dynasty. When you grow up in the Bay Area and you have that, it gives you a lot of reasons to love sports and love football,” he said. “And that’s when I fell in love with football, because of Joe Montana. And he’s still my idol today.
“He was an incredible quarterback and he set the tone every single day for what greatness really looks like. And every pro football player, every quarterback that’s ever played in the NFL understands how talented and how poised this guy was. This guy was a champion – four Super Bowl wins in for Super Bowl appearances. Nobody performed in Super Bowls as great as this guy and the fact that I’m on a card with him signed, it had to be in my collection.”
Brady then talked about how he needed to rely on his teammates when the Patriots came back to defeat the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI.
The Patriots famously trailed 28-3 when they stormed back to stun the Falcons and win the Super Bowl title in overtime.
“It’s 2016, the end of the season, came down to one game against the Falcons and it was pretty rough being down 28-3,” he recalled. “But I had a group of teammates that never quit and we did fight to the end. We played our butts off for the last 18 minutes of that game and went from what would have been the toughest loss of my career to the greatest victory that maybe the sport has even seen.
“And we get to make jokes with Falcons fans for the rest of our lives.”
CardVault by Tom Brady offers rare and premium trading cards for hobbyists who want to elevate their collections. The store also provides an environment for collectors of all kinds.
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