In April 2000 the New England Patriots took Tom Brady out of Michigan in the sixth round, 199th overall. Six other quarterbacks had gone before him. In Fleer's Ultra set that fall he was one of 29 rookies short-printed at about one every four packs.
The 2000 Ultra set is numbered to 250, with 249 cards issued; #240 was pulled early in production. The base Brady is unnumbered. Above it sit three die-cut parallels: a Gold Medallion, a Platinum Medallion numbered to 25, and a one-of-one Masterpiece.
A short print, but a mainstream one: one in four packs, of a sixth-round pick.
The photograph Fleer chose is not of a Patriot. Brady is in Michigan's blue jersey, number 10, and maize pants, set to throw in front of a stadium crowd, with TOM BRADY in large gold letters and NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS · QB in a red bar beneath. No college or league logos appear, which is why the picture can look a little generic.
One caution belongs with this card. A so-called Polychrome Refractor version, with a holographic foil back, circulates in the market. It reuses the real Ultra photograph, but it is not a Fleer product.
The ordinary #234 is the honest version: a short-printed rookie from a mainstream set, made in real numbers, of a player who would go on to win seven Super Bowls.
