2000 Bowman Chrome Refractor Tom Brady ROOKIE #236 PSA 8 NM-MT

One card from Brady’s rookie year stands out from the rest – the 2000 Bowman Chrome Refractor. This now-iconic issue is considered by many to be not only one of the best rookie cards of all time, not only one of the best football cards of all time, but one of the best sports cards ever printed, period. Topps produced more than 300 Brady Refractors in Topps Chrome, Finest, and Bowman Chrome products from 2002 until 2015, but the first one sets the standard among Brady collectors. Topps released 12 sets in 2000 but only included Brady in Bowman and Bowman Chrome – meaning he has only a single rookie Refractor. Among the 105 rookies on the Bowman Chrome checklist, Topps serial-numbered base cards of 20 top prospects to /99. That left Brady and 84 other draftees as unnumbered short prints, whose Refractors fell once every 281 packs. It took an average of nearly 24,000 packs to uncover a Brady, leaving this card as one of his toughest unnumbered rookie cards to pull. The photo used on the card and the detailed writeup on the reverse also receive attention from collectors. Of Brady’s 23 rookie cards that depict him with the Patriots, only eight show him in full uniform instead of at practice. Most of those issues show Brady casually warming up for a preseason game, but the Bowman card shows him rolling out of the pocket. On the back, Brady’s “Bowman Briefing” expounds on his baseball pedigree, big-game accomplishments, and the on-field skills that eventually defined his career. Considering Refractors have helped define the trading card industry since 1993, the shine from this issue makes it many collectors' choice to sit atop the list of Tom Brady's best cards. Learn more about TB12’s career and collecting history in our Guide to Tom Brady Football Cards: https://www.fanaticscollect.com/definitive-guides/a-guide-to-tom-bradys-football-cards The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 1/2/2025.