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. Most of his rookie cards show him as a Patriot. This one goes back a step and shows him at Michigan.
Pros & Prospects was Upper Deck's draft-class product. The 2000 set runs to 152 cards, and the Draft Class cards from #85 on are serial-numbered to 1,000, the number stamped on the back. Brady's is #124, which puts him in the part of the set issued in regular packs.
Most of his rookie cards show a Patriot. This one shows a Wolverine.
He drops back to pass in Michigan's dark blue jersey, number 10, and maize pants, on a white ground broken by squares of the photograph, with DRAFT CLASS 2000 in outlined letters across the lower half.
The design is of its moment: foil outlines, type running in more than one direction, a look that announces itself as modern in the way cards did at the turn of the century. Beckett counts it as his scarcest Upper Deck rookie card.
It shows the quarterback as he was in the spring of 2000, before the draft decided where he would go.
