One of the oft-repeated facts about famed former NFL quarterback Tom Brady is how he played baseball as well as football in high school, and was chosen by the Montreal Expos in the 18th round of the 1995 MLB draft. Brady, of course, turned that down, going on to play football at Michigan, be chosen 199th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft, and then play in the NFL from 2000 to 2022, winning seven Super Bowls, five Super Bowl MVP awards, and three NFL MVP awards. But a new Topps promotion for a card in the 2023 Bowman Draft series (released on 12/12, “Brady Day”) has Brady dreaming of an alternate universe where he did play for the Expos, they stayed in Montreal, and he won seven World Series rings instead:
It was all a dream… right?! @Topps @MLB @michaelrubin pic.twitter.com/iYoj3gCmUX
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) December 12, 2023
A great part of that is how details from Brady’s football career get translated to baseball. Those include the seven titles, “the greatest comeback of all time against Atlanta” (the Braves in this instance, not the Falcons), and two losses to the Giants (San Francisco in this case, not New York, as several actual Expos players in this ad note). And the latter part of that led to a very funny associated video from Eli Manning, who in this universe beat Brady in baseball rather than football:
https://twitter.com/EliManning/status/1734595404677726209
“Hey Tom, I hear it’s Brady Day, and it seems like people are sharing their favorite moment from your career, so I wanted to add my thoughts. Man, what a run you had, 23 years, seven world championships, multiple MVPs…you’re a Montreal legend. Personally, my favorite moments were those Giants championships [shows two SF Giants rings]. You’ve got a special place in the heart of us from San Francisco.”
Of course, with the Giants and Expos both being in the National League, this would have been NLCS wins rather than World Series ones. (Unless this alternate universe also featured one of those teams switching leagues). But it still works, presuming two close NLCS victories followed by walkover World Series, and it’s very good given the Giants/Giants connection. Topps also envisions a “hat catch” in this universe:
The helmet catch becomes the hat catch 🤔 #BradyDay https://t.co/cWOP9y1U9F pic.twitter.com/afMvqZMSmo
— Topps (@Topps) December 12, 2023
Here’s more from Greg Bates in a Topps article on the creation of the Brady cards here, which are part of a 2023 Bowman Draft set also featuring actual top picks from this year:
The 2023 Bowman Draft baseball set includes base cards of Brady and features 81 numbered, autographed cards of the legendary quarterback. Autographed variations consist of gold out of /50, orange out of /25, red out of /5, and a 1-of-1 Superfractor.
“It’s going to be a huge chase card for the product,” said Topps Brand Manager Coby Kerr, who helped design the Brady card. “It’s going to be truly unique. There’s never going to be another Bowman Brady card. So, like any 1st Bowman card, this is Tom Brady’s 1st Bowman. Just like Ohtani’s, just like Trout’s 1st Bowman — this is how Brady’s card is going to be treated, and it will have a major impact.”
Brady had a little fun with the on-card autos and added inscriptions on two of the parallels. Both are No. 12 cards — the jersey number Brady wore for all 23 years he played in the NFL.
On the orange parallel numbered 12/25, underneath Brady’s signature, he wrote, “Allons Aux Expos!” That French inscription loosely translates to, “Let’s go Expos!” The gold parallel 12/50 features the inscription, “If baseball doesn’t work out there’s always football.”
Beyond the funny alternate universe stuff, Topps also has an interesting video from MLB scout John Hughes on his actual evaluation of Brady in 1995, and how he still considers Brady “the most impressive high school kid I’ve ever been around and spent time with.” In fact, Hughes says “It’s a heck of a statement for a scout if the best player you drafted never even played baseball.”
Tom Brady was always destined to be the 🐐
Veteran MLB scout John Hughes recalls assessing Brady in 1995 for the Montreal Expos. #BradyDay pic.twitter.com/ZtMI0hUXEF
— Topps (@Topps) December 12, 2023
We don’t know just how a baseball career for Brady would have gone. While he was an impressive high school catcher, hitting .311 with eight home runs across two varsity seasons at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, California, there are plenty of high school prospects who don’t pan out. But there are also many who were quite high on Brady’s baseball potential, with then-Expos GM Kevin Malone saying in 2017 that Brady “could have been one of the greatest catchers ever” and with Hughes saying that year they offered Brady second- or third-round money (despite his 18th round selection) to try and entice him to baseball.
This is only an alternate universe, but it’s a fun one to consider. And this is a clever promotion from Topps. And it’s particularly funny to see Manning worked into this, and to envision him beating Brady with a very different set of Giants.
[Eli Manning on Twitter]
