Super Bowl MVP prize to be auctioned for school
Tom Brady has waited months to pick up the Cadillac he won for being named MVP of last season's Super Bowl. But the New England Patriots quarterback won't be parking it in his garage.
He's donating it to his high school, Junipero Serra High School, in San Mateo, Calif., as part of a $10 million capital campaign to help raise funds for the building of new facilities around the school's football and baseball fields.
The Cadillac XLR Roadster, which was made specifically for Brady, has a retail value of $76,200.
In June, Brady complained that General Motors officials had not yet filled him in on his car's whereabouts.
"I'm not driving [the] car, that's for sure," Brady told ESPN's Chris Mortensen at the time. "It's the damndest thing I ever heard. It's ridiculous."
Cadillac spokesman Jeff Kuhlman told ESPN.com that Brady called an audible in April, changing his choice of car from a Cadillac Escalade, which he took home after winning the Super Bowl MVP in 2002, to the XLR Roadster. At the time, General Motors had promised all 5,000 of the XLR Roadsters to dealerships, so the company put another one in production for Brady.
After Brady heard that his car had arrived, he met with officials of the school and came to the decision to put it up for auction. Brady, who was recently inducted into the high school's Hall of Fame that includes baseball players Barry Bonds and Gregg Jefferies and college football coaching great John Robinson, also agreed to make a monetary donation to the school.
Raffle tickets for the car are selling for $25 each or five for $100.
A Web site devoted to the auction was just unveiled, www.tombradycar.com, and after Brady talked about the auction on his radio segment on WEEI Sports Radio on Monday morning, calls flowed into the high school.
"We probably sold $1,000 in tickets today," said Russ Bertetta, director of development and alumni relations for the school. Bertetta also happened to be Brady's advanced placement American history teacher and junior varsity basketball coach.
The winning prize in the raffle is the car, which will be autographed by Brady on the inside of the trunk. Second prize is a weekend trip to a New England Patriots game next season -- tickets, airfare and lodging included, thanks to Brady.
The drawing is scheduled to take place on Nov. 13.
Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espn3.com.
