A 25-year-old Tom Brady was sat in his car with New England Patriots teammate David Nugent in late August, 2002 when his new reality stopped him in his tracks.
He had just signed a new four-year contract with the New England Patriots worth $30million, a reward for his first Super Bowl triumph. The money, Brady realized, meant life would never be the same again.
‘Nugent, I’m a millionaire,’ he said. ‘I’m a millionaire.’
At that exact moment, Black Betty started playing on the radio. Brady turned it up as loud as it would go, and he and Nugent played air guitar together, celebrating the quarterback’s newfound wealth.
How things have changed, almost 25 years later. Since retiring in 2023, the Brady brand has become the fastest growing beast in the cutthroat landscape of American sports, accumulating him an estimated wealth of $350 million.
That number is only going to grow in the coming years, probably quite significantly and quite quickly – there are many in the NFL industry who think the billion dollar mark is the golden figure Brady has in his sights.
The NFL great has made some surprising moves as he rakes in millions after his playing career
Brady is already worth $350million but there are those who think he wants to be a billionaire
It looks like he is stopping at nothing to get there. He managed to convince the NFL to bend long-standing rules of the NFL, the league eventually allowing him to own part of the Las Vegas Raiders while also cashing in on a $375million, 10-year deal as a Fox analyst. It will pave the way for others to follow suit in years to come – Travis Kelce is a possible example who could follow that path when he retires.
But while NFL rules say one thing, can viewers really feel any authenticity in what Brady says about the stats of the game? Doesn’t he have too many irons in too many fires to say what he really thinks?
This weekend, in Los Angeles, he’ll ‘unretire’ in the flag football event initially scheduled to be played in Saudi Arabia. The Arab nation has worked aggressively to establish themselves as a major influence in sport around the globe, with the backdrop of ‘sportswashing’ accusations seemingly growing quieter each week.
The Saudis have learned that when it comes down to it, most people have a price and Brady certainly has his. The seven-time Super Bowl winner insists, however, that he is not being paid as much as $75million to get back onto the field this weekend alongside today’s NFL stars in Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts and Joe Burrow.
‘Are we just picking numbers out of a hat and reporting them?’ Brady scoffed last September, after Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy said he was getting $75m to play.
But he’s not doing it for free, and the Saudis have deep pockets for someone with Brady’s sporting caliber. Portnoy, however – a diehard Patriots fan and Brady admirer – went much further in those remarks.
‘Brady’s a w***e, a money w***e,’ Portnoy said. ‘He’s doing everything and I don’t think he’s found his lane. Having said that, I don’t know that there’s anyone that would turn down that much money for like, one second.’
Portnoy’s choice of words might be brash, but nobody can deny how far Brady is spreading himself since retiring.
Brady this weekend plays in the Saudi-backed flag football game that was moved to LA
Brady pictured with LeBron James in Las Vegas last week – he now has many ties to Sin City
Some investments are shrewd, such as the English soccer team, Birmingham City, and WNBA champions Las Vegas Aces. Vegas is becoming a second home for Brady – if an NBA franchise is finally launched there, don’t be surprised if he becomes involved in that, too.
Movement could even come next week at an NBA board of governors meeting where a proposal topping $10billion to launch a team in Vegas could be made.
But other partnerships suggest that if the price is right, there isn’t much Brady won’t sell. Even if it is at odds with the reputation he has spent years building.
For example, his age-defying body is a result of his ultra-strict ‘TB12 diet’ that even meant he wouldn’t eat tomatoes, peppers or mushrooms due to a belief they don’t posses enough anti-inflammatory nutrients.
So when Brady appeared on screens earlier this year in a Pizza Hut commercial, it felt disingenuous. Does anyone really think he eats it himself?
He also sparked outrage among the Patriots fanbase that adores him on Super Bowl week (where he also appeared in a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial) saying he ‘didn’t have a dog in the fight’ when asked who he wanted to win football’s showpiece game against Seattle Seahawks.
Five months earlier, almost to the day, Brady was at the Patriots’ Foxborough Stadium to witness the unveiling of a statue in his honor, commemorating the man who led them to six Super Bowls.
Tom Brady pictured appearing in a commercial for Dunkin Donuts earlier this year
The NFL rewrote its rules to allow Brady to be a Fox analyst and Las Vegas Raiders owner
It was a baffling, bizarre comment to make. Nobody would have cared if he backed his old team. But perhaps in this world of corporate, commercial Brady, he felt compromized supporting another team as a Raiders co-owner. It is, really, the most obvious reason why he said what he did. And a sad one, if true.
Brady’s diving deeper into the world of trading cards, too, with aggressive plans to build his CardVault business in 2026. Before heading to the west coast for flag football, he was opening another new store in Brooklyn, New York, his 13th CardVault shop.
By the end of 2026, Brady wants to double that with another 13 stores across the United States. Given that his commitments ramp up around the NFL season in September, most of those will happen sooner than later in 2026.
But for now, though, the next pay packet comes from flag football in Los Angeles bankrolled by Saudi Arabia. His faux war of words with Logan Paul, generated to create further interest around the game like two boxers before a fight, will no doubt be resolved once everything is over, when both men have had their chance to show off. Perhaps a WWE appearance is even on the horizon.
Does anyone believe what they see with Brady anymore? As long as the money keeps rolling in, it is hard to imagine he cares.