Collectors in San Mateo, California, got quite the surprise at their local card shop last fall.
Early one morning, just 40 miles up the 101 freeway from where the 49ers play in Santa Clara, Tom Brady made an appearance in the hobby shop he grew up frequenting as a kid.
"We had a game when I was broadcasting in Santa Clara," Brady told cllct's Darren Rovell. "I stayed with my parents at night, and we went to breakfast, and right by the breakfast (spot) was What's On Second Sports Cards."
.@TomBrady has been a collector from the start ????
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He spoke about his love for the hobby from the CardVault launch at American Dream in New Jersey. pic.twitter.com/yuMZ4ATax8
So, Brady popped in for a trip down memory lane at the place that helped spawn his love of collecting.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion reminisced about his early indoctrination into the hobby Friday night, when he appeared at the opening of his fourth collectibles shop, Card Vault by Tom Brady in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Yes, that's the same East Rutherford that's known as the beating heart of New York Giants Country, with the new shop sitting just a Randy Moss deep route away from MetLife Stadium.
For Brady, extending his love of collecting has become one of his missions in retirement, with the efforts now reaching behind enemy lines after his first four shops were opened in New England.
"Growing up, collecting trading cards was my life. That's what I did," Brady said. "Every free dollar I ever got from my paper route when I was making $3 a month went to collecting cards."
Brady reflected on how he would wrap up 30 newspapers every morning and deliver them on his bike — and then later blow his entire salary picking up a Jose Canseco or Roger Clemens card at What's On Second.
Every last dollar helped, so Brady was especially helpful at the holidays — although he once got a Christmas tip that was a bit unusual
"I was hoping for a couple bucks, and I got potatoes," said Brady, remembering how the owner of one house on his route asked him, "You want a spud?"
Except for a four-and-a-half-year break when he was in college at the University of Michigan, Brady said he has collected his entire life and now boasts a collection of more than "10,000 cards at this point."
Despite earning more than $300 million in his 23-year NFL career, Brady says much of the value in his collection is still nostalgic.
"I had heroes that I collected, and they inspired me to follow this passion of sports that I had," he said. "Whether it was football or baseball when I was growing up, and now I see so many other cards in here. My kids collect, and I've bought them a lot of cards over the years.
"So, I think it's just a great way to be engaged in sports, be engaged with your friends, to trade. to sell, to learn a little bit about economics as well. That's ultimately what this hobby has turned into."
Kevin Jackson is the chief content officer for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.