In head to head matchups, Tom Brady has a slight edge over Patrick Mahomes (3-2), with the difference being the most important win of them all: Super Bowl LV.
On the trading card market, however, Mahomes has Brady beat. A Mahomes rookie card recently sold for a new all-time NFL record price of $4.3 million, beating the record of $3.1 million set by a Brady rookie card sold in March.
The card, a 1 of 1 National Treasures autographed rookie card, features an image of Mahomes in his first NFL season (which was almost entirely spent on the bench), the quarterback's signature, and a piece of his jersey collar bearing the rubberized NFL shield logo. The card received an 8.5 grade from Beckett and was sold in a deal brokered by PWCC Marketplace.
Mahomes appropriately reacted to the sale with a tweet Wednesday:
The trading card market is in the midst of a renaissance partially propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced everyone to stay home and led some to discover (or rediscover) a passion for sports collectibles. The resale/auction market has responded in kind with a boom in transactions, including the sale of these two unique cards.
Mahomes and Brady are also sharing another distinction this year: The two are featured in Madden NFL's first dual-athlete cover in over a decade.
When they next meet on the field, they'll have an extra topic to discuss.
