NFL superstar and absolute legend of a man Tom Brady has reportedly purchased a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT. How much did he spend? 133 Ethereum, which at the time of purchase was valued at $430,000. Not to mention what were probably outrageous gas and minting fees.
Brady isn’t the first high-profile athlete to “ape” into this new, expensive trend. Three-time NBA champion Stephen Curry is also a holder of a Bored Ape NFT – although he purchased his for the much more modest price of $180,000, back in 2021 when the craze was just picking up steam. Fellow NBA star Javale McGee of the Phoenix Suns is the proud owner of a World of Women NFT, another popular collection. While Brady’s BFF Rob Gronkowski actually launched his own NFT collection, which quickly sold out at auction for a combined $1.6 million.
Athletes like Brady shelling out what most people collect in their 401ks over a lifetime signifies one of two things. First, that this is an exercise in excess, which signifies we have officially entered our very own era of bread of circuses and the Empire is truly in its final days. Our athletes are just embodiments of the Roman elites who drank and partied their way into a full-scale sunset on a once mighty power.
Thankfully, there is another way to read the tea leaves of Brady’s and his fellow superstars’ decisions to purchase high priced pieces of digital art – that NFTs and the world sports are on a collision course driven by fate. One that has been building since the first baseball card was traded amongst friends.
Fortunately for us, our Empire should take solace in the fact that Brady is among the smarter athletes. A wise decision-maker (even if the whole #DeflateGate incident was true, everyone makes mistakes once in a blue moon), a proven businessman and, generally, a disciplined guy. In other words, this likely wasn’t some Antonio Brown-esque purchase of a hot air balloon to float into training camp. Afterall, it’s not like Brady made the decision to own a Bored Ape NFT during his most recent Superbowl victory celebration.
Rather, Brady and his fellow athletes getting in on NFTs is not so much an exercise in excess, but an acknowledgment that access is, itself, becoming currency.
(This article ran long so we broke into two parts, which will be appearing in two days right here at Pokatok.com. Check back then and our Twitter @Pokatokofficial to see the exciting conclusion).