There have been many titans of the gridiron, and many players that consistently get a ton of attention from collectors. Not surprisingly, Tom Brady is the one player that remains atop the mountain of collecting for football cards. I would even go so far as saying that his career changed more about the hobby than anyone could have ever thought possible.

The latest Super Bowl run has seen some bump in his already sky high value:

2000 Playoff Contenders Tom Brady Championship Ticket Auto

2008 Bowman Sterling Tom Brady / Joe Montana Dual Auto Gold Refractor /20

2015 National Treasures Tom Brady Auto Relic /10

2014 Immaculate Tom Brady Pro Bowl Auto

Lets start at the beginning, because that’s where this story gets super interesting. As a no-name scrub, he was not invited to the Rookie Premiere, which was still a relatively new event back in his rookie year. With only a handful of players attending, if we could even call it a premiere back then, it wasnt the same as it is today. For the 2016 Rookie Premiere, 40 players were invited, and Tom Brady is one of the reasons that happened.

Card companies started to realize how important having rookie cards of every player was to collectors, especially when so many guys become superstars from the late rounds of the NFL draft. Other players like Tony Romo werent even drafted, and went on to have a borderline HOF career. Nothing like Tom Brady though, Tom Brady set the standard, and it changed everything forever.

Each year, there is a player like Alfred Morris in 2012 or even Dak Prescott in 2016, whose collectability doesnt take off until they get on the field. Considering that by August and September, many products are already on shelves, its too late to adjust for the unexpected. By then, collectors are already starving, and companies know that having cards in products is much more beneficial by that point. Its also cheap as shit to include scrub autos in products in the first place, which helps to diversify the content. Without players like Brady, that might not have been as prevalent.

I might be reaching here a bit, as product cost was destined to go up as companies became more and more dependent on the autograph content itself. However, its no accident that every drafted QB gets an invite to the premiere these days. They cant risk having a player like Dak Prescott not have a bevy of content available. QBs are the crown jewel, and Brady has shown over and over again, that a lack of content paired with a great career is something that spikes value through the roof. The companies arent stupid, and with how common autograph content is, they know that diluting the autograph pool isnt as detrimental as it used to be.

If Brady does pull off his 5th Super Bowl win, he will have more titles than 60% of the NFL franchises combined. He has played in more conference championships than anyone in history, and isnt showing signs of dropping off. This might not even be his last hurrah. He is the greatest QB of all time, and there will be no doubting that even if the Falcons end up winning. Collectors agree, as his cards cannot be had for anything less than hundreds of dollars.