After Tom Brady had spoken in front of more than 2,000 people at a business and motivational conference in Miami on Saturday night, it was time for the VIPs.
The high rollers, who paid $3,600 for a ticket to the speech, a photo-op and a signed item, lined up for the chance to take their pictures with Brady.
As the camera flashed, Brad Jarrett — who only collects Brady items — turned to Brady, seemingly not caring for the picture with the future Hall of Famer.
“I saw the items you signed for us,” Jarrett told cllct that he said to Brady. “I’m disappointed with the signatures. We paid a lot of money, and it’s not right.”
Jarrett had Brady sign one of three known tickets to the 2000 NFL Draft, when Brady famously was picked in the sixth round. For the collector, it was an opportunity — he could see Brady, take a picture with him and have his item signed for $400 less than Fanatics, Brady’s exclusive autograph representative, charges for send-in tickets on its website.
In a back room with only a few people there to witness, Brady signed the items. The seven-time Super Bowl champion normally has a flowing autograph where the “T” and the “B” are distinguishable. But on this day, some items just featured what appears to be a scribble or a single line.
Miami local Salomon Lutwak, a former autograph hound, was asked to help out with the signing.
“When it was done, I peeked in the back room and looked at everything and said ‘Holy F—,'" Lutwak told cllct. "It looked like they were all signed by Tim Allen, not Tom Brady.’’
These weren't just any items.
Derek Wagner, from Boston, bought six tickets to the event and submitted six of his own items at a cost of $21,600.
Wagner brought the first Super Bowl touchdown ball from Brady to Rob Gronkowski, the QB’s game-used cleats from 2005 and 2006, a game-used ball from Brady’s debut and game-used balls from both Super Bowl XXXVIII and LV.
"The event was cool,” Wagner told cllct. “Tom’s speech was amazing, and I loved the photo-op. And then we saw the autographs and were like, ‘What the F is this?’”
Sources with knowledge of the contract between speaking bureau Harry Walker, EXMA and Brady said the deal guaranteed a Brady speech, 100 photos and 100 autographs, but the contract did clearly state that the sponsor "is responsible for the purchase of the items through an approved vendor."
Sources told cllct the only things that were preapproved were photos and copies of Brady’s book, “The TB12 Method.” A source close to Brady’s camp said when he entered the room, he was very uncomfortable with the breadth of the items.
“He was completely blindsided,” the source said. “This was supposed to be signatures for VIPs of the conference -- not a signing for his biggest collectors.”
Brady did a similar deal with EXMA in October in Mexico City, but sources said the items submitted were from more amateur collectors. When the event moved to Miami, many big American collectors bought in.
"We were never told that our items had to be preapproved," said Glenn Gagnon, who flew from Massachusetts with a rare 2001 full season-ticket book, one of two known in existence. "If our items were not approved, I would have much rather him not sign it than what we got. He defaced our stuff."
Fernando Anzures, founder and CEO of EXMA, a leadership, marketing and networking event company, told cllct that, while the company has been operating for more than a decade, this was his first event in the United States. He says he misunderstood that all the items for Brady to sign were required to be purchased by him and says he knows nothing about the autograph space.
After Brady's event in Mexico, Anzures said he was approached by a memorabilia dealer in Mexico named Fernando Regato. Over the next few months, Anzures said, Regato saw the signing part of the Brady EXMA appearance as a way to get closer to Brady. So, he began marketing, just the signing part, to big Brady collectors. The plan worked. He was on stage at the Miami event and was in the room as Brady signed.
The small details didn’t exactly get executed, which is why the event has turned into a dispute.
Regato told the high-end collectors Brady would sign everything, even cards. But what the collectors didn't know is Regato hadn't even seen the contract that Brady signed for the event.
Although Regato said he would reserve comment, he did tell cllct, through a WhatsApp message, that he was unaware of the contract's terms.
Anzures said, "Fernando Regato is not affiliated with EXMA and was not authorized to share information or instructions with ticket holders on behalf of EXMA."
But behind the scenes, Regato told collectors he was partnered with EXMA, and the two groups were equally splitting 100 VIP tickets. Multiple texts confirming the agreement were reviewed by cllct. But when it came time to pay, Regato provided the collectors the link to pay EXMA directly.
Three people brought Bowman Chrome rookies, worth $2,000, and one collector cracked open his $20,000 refractor card for Brady to sign, which he didn’t because his Fanatics contract prohibits it.
A Fanatics spokesman said the company had nothing to do with the event and not a single representative was there. A source who helped arrange the conference verified that fact.
The company has been under intense scrutiny for Major League Baseball’s uniforms and the availability of Caitlin Clark WNBA jerseys, even though its partner Nike has a much more significant stake in the production of both.
For what it's worth, the event seemed to have plenty of value to others who weren't showing up for a signing opportunity. VIPs also had access to a boat cruise with food and drinks and a private art gallery tour.
Greg Nazareth is a huge Brady collector who helps run a Facebook group of fellow TB12 collectors. Nazareth brought the only known team-issued Brady-used practice helmet.
“My helmet had a pretty rough auto, but (it) turned out better than a lot of the others,” Nazareth said.
Those who were near the backroom where the photos and autographs were taking place described it as total chaos. Security had collectors empty their items into garbage bags before seeing Brady, including their phones and wallets.
A source said that a man close in proximity to Brady then told him to sign "as fast as shit."
Nazareth had a silver paint pen to sign his helmet, but Brady signed it in black. Jarrett had a black sharpie for Brady to sign his ticket, but he signed it in silver.
Three collectors who didn’t have their cards signed told cllct they got their money fully refunded Sunday.
On Monday, Anzures stressed that Brady fulfilled all his obligations to the conference and that, in hindsight, "EXMA should have been more explicit in our communication with ticket holders regarding what items were permitted at the event."
It’s a bit murkier for those who got things signed, albeit badly. Some say they are attempting to reverse the charges with their credit cards, others are working to have the signatures wiped as clean as they can.
On Monday, Wagner headed to Saugus, Mass., home of SPORTSWORLD, New England's largest sports memorabilia shop. There, two representatives from Beckett were on-hand to certify autographs.
Wagner said the reps looked at his six items, and he was told they wouldn't reject them, but they also couldn't be sure Brady signed them. The six letters calling the autographs "inconclusive" represent a huge blow for Wagner, whose items he estimated were worth $1 million -- but now he's not so sure of their value.
The "inconclusive" letters cost $1,200.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectible market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.