Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tom Brady's historic 600th career TD pass temporarily given to fan by Mike Evans

Published Oct. 24, 2021 8:20 p.m. ET

Tom Brady made history (again!) Sunday, throwing for his 600th career touchdown, but it was a gaffe from Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout Mike Evans that wound up stealing the show.

Instead of snagging the ball for safekeeping after catching the nine-yard TD pass from Brady, Evans mistakenly handed the ball to a fan in the stands.

A nice gesture any other time, but given the significance of the football for the 44-year-old Brady? Whoops!

The 26-year-old receiver, who wound up catching six passes for 76 yards and three touchdowns in the 38-3 shellacking of the Chicago Bears, had a classic reaction when informed of his misstep.

From there, it became a rescue operation for the Brady keepsake.

CBS Sports' cameras caught a Bucs official negotiating an exchange with the lucky fan, which Tony Romo, who was on the CBS call with Jim Nantz, commentated on from the booth.

In the end, "[The Tampa Bay official] gave him another game ball and promised him some sort of signed jersey," sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson informed the broadcast.

Considering the value the football held as the first one to crack the 600-TD pass mark, some saw that as a raw deal for the fan.

Here are some reactions from social media to Evans' mishap:

After the game, Brady explained to Wolfson what went down with Evans after the wideout mistakenly gave away the ball.

"It was pretty funny," a smiling Brady said. "He was like, ‘Man, sorry. Do you want it back?’ I said, ‘I think they’re probably going to get it anyway, but you're good. Mike does so many great things in the community … every time he scores he gives the touchdown ball away. So, it's all good. I definitely know we got that one back. So, that was one I wanted to have."

The fan, Byron Kennedy, gave his side of the story to Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times.

"I was taking a video, and I switched it to my face, and then I went to switch it back to facing (the field), and when I did that, Mike Evans was running at me," Kennedy, who wore an Evans jersey to the game, said. "Right when I looked down, he jumped up and gave me a hug and handed me the ball."

However, Kennedy did tell Knight that he had his reservations about initially handing over the ball.

Some of that swag included a $1,000 gift card to the team store, per The Athletic's Greg Auman.

Considering Brady threw four touchdowns in the game, giving him a total of 602, he's already well on his way to aiming for 700.

As for Evans, he is now responsible for 19 of Brady's growing record of TD passes. The wideout stands seventh on the list of Brady touchdown recipients, behind Deion Branch (24), James White (24), Wes Welker (34), Julian Edelman (36) Randy Moss (39) and Rob Gronkowski (88).

We'll see if Brady, Evans or the fan have any additional comments in the aftermath of the game, but so far it seems like all is well that ends well.