Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady nearly lost ownership of the brawl behind his 600th touchdown pass, merely now he's paying for it… in Bitcoin (BTC).

In Sunday'due south game between the Buccaneers and Chicago Bears, Brady threw his 600th career touchdown pass to fellow teammate Mike Evans — he is the but player in NFL history to have ever achieved so many touchdown passes in his career. The broad receiver, apparently not realizing the significance of the ball, handed it off to Byron Kennedy, a fan wearing a jersey with Evans' namesake.

According to Ken Goldin, the founder of sports memorabilia auction company Goldin Auctions, the ball could exist worth anywhere from $500,000 to $900,000. Kennedy at start seemed to give upward the ball in commutation for a vague promise of a encounter and greet with the quarterback. Still, Brady after revealed on Monday Night Football that he had offered the fan 1 Bitcoin (BTC) — roughly $62,081 at the fourth dimension of publication — as cheers for handing information technology over quickly.

"There were a lot of negotiations in lodge to get the ball back," said Brady. "Byron realized he lost all of his leverage once he gave the ball away [...] I'm also giving him a Bitcoin. That is pretty cool, also. At the stop of the day, I think he is all the same making out pretty."

According to Tampa Bay Times reporter Rick Stroud, the Buccaneers have too agreed to give Kennedy two signed team jerseys, a helmet with Brady's autograph, Mike Evans game cleats, a jersey signed by the broad receiver, season tickets for the residue of the year and through 2022, equally well as a $1,000 credit towards purchases at the squad's shop. Even with some experts predicting the BTC cost is likely to rise, many online pointed out the value of Kennedy'southward bounty did not come up close to that of the historic football.

"I would take gone for season tickets for life," said investigative reporter David Amelotti.

Related: Football-focused NFT platform plans to kicking off in manner, with some large names

Brady is one of many crypto-friendly professional athletes. He launched his own nonfungible token platform chosen Autograph — where he plans to auction the 600th touchdown ball as an NFT — and has received tokens as part of an endorsement bargain with crypto commutation FTX.