2023 Bowman Chrome Orange Refractor Tom Brady AUTO DNA 10 /25 #TB PSA 10 GEM

Tom Brady swatted major-league distance home runs as a left-handed catcher during his senior year at Serra High School in San Mateo, California, putting himself onto the big-league radar. Though he had already committed to play quarterback at the University of Michigan, Brady received plenty of attention from Montreal Expos' northern California scout John Hughes, who could tell the 18-year-old had a bright athletic future. “I never had as much fun scouting a player that we eventually didn’t sign,” Hughes once recalled. “We knew we didn’t have a good chance to sign him because he had the scholarship to Michigan. He was drafted in the 18th round because everyone knew how difficult it would be to sign him. He was very talented. I mean, on talent alone, he would have been projected as a late second-round pick. And I believe he would have made it. As a catcher, he would have gotten there.” It took nearly 30 years, but Brady did get there—with the help of Topps. Hughes watched his dream of Brady wearing an Expos uniform finally come true in 2023 with cards such as this Bowman Draft 1995 Dream Draft Picks /25 Orange Refractor “1st Bowman” autograph. The Expos selected Brady 507th overall in the 1995 MLB Draft, making him one of the final picks on the draft’s first day and the third of seven eventual NFL players taken throughout the 87-round event. Montreal then took the extraordinary step of inviting an 18th-round selection for a day with the major-league club, hoping that surrounding him with big leaguers would make him reconsider a college football career that projected him as a potential All-American. The Expos visited the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park about a week following the draft, and on June 11, Brady—who grew up 20 miles south of the city and attended many 49ers games at the stadium—took big-league batting practice. He also spent time shadowing players, including outfielder F.P. Santangelo, who did not give Brady’s baseball career a ringing endorsement. “We were like, ‘Why in the world would you make $800 a month playing in front of 100 people in the minor leagues and riding buses for 8-10 hours when you could play in front of 100,000 people in the Big House on Saturday?’” Santangelo recalled. “We were supposed to say, ‘Hey, Tom, play baseball,’ and we were like, ‘Hey, Tom, play football.’” It has become well-known sports history that Brady shunned the Expos, went to Michigan, became the starting quarterback, landed in the NFL as a sixth-round draft pick in 2000, and eventually set every major passing record in NFL history by the end of a 23-year career. “I loved (baseball), but football was the one I chose for a reason,” Brady said. “Although I did love baseball, it was a great sport, especially growing up in California. ... That was my first love, and then once I started playing football, it was game over.” But what if Brady had fallen in love with the major leagues? In 2023, Topps provided a theoretical answer. In conjunction with the Bowman Draft release on December 12, Topps unveiled a video that took collectors into an alternate universe where Brady became a superstar for the Expos, which kept the franchise from leaving Montreal after the 2004 season. His 649 touchdown passes translated to 649 home runs, and his seven championships still included the greatest comeback of all time against Atlanta. Expos Hall of Famers Larry Walker, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., and Pedro Martínez reminisce about “how that guy never let us lose ... except to the Giants. Twice.” in a humorous nod to two of Brady’s Super Bowl losses. Brady awakens smiling about his dream after an alarm clock sounds at 12:12 to coincide with 12/12/23, dubbed “Brady Day” by Fanatics, the parent company of Topps and PWCC. Because no photos of Brady in an Expos uniform exist from 1995, Topps used a headshot from his high school career and superimposed the image onto a Montreal uniform from the era. The company then resurrected the 1995 Bowman baseball design, gave the card a Chrome finish, and had Brady hard sign 81 cards from the colorful Refractor rainbow to polish off one of the most unique chase cards in the modern industry—such as this /25 Orange Refractor auto that was inserted once every 60,380 hobby packs. “We wanted to make this card as unique as possible to when he was drafted,” said Topps brand manager Coby Kerr, who was instrumental in the card’s design. “For example, we use an image of Brady from ’95. The back content talks to it, covering his scouting report up to when he was drafted and before all the football came into play. The back has a true scouting report like all the other draft picks in the product.” The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 2/26/2024.