A recent message from Tom Brady about cardboard hit home for Rams rookie Max Klare.
The tight end — who was taken by Los Angeles in the second round of April’s NFL draft — was one of many football players who received advice from Brady while out at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere presented by Topps last week, and he told The California Post that some of the former quarterback’s words about trading cards stuck with him.
“He was like, ‘Make sure you get all your cards,’” Klare said. “‘As many as you can.’”
The NFLPA Rookie Premiere event annually provides incoming NFL talent the opportunity to travel to downtown Los Angeles to, among other things, get acquainted with businesses and learn the ropes of content creation.
While at the event, athletes get their first looks at their rookie cards, and Klare said during a sitdown with Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champion highly recommended the guys do their best to locate their product once it’s released.
“Obviously if you produce, it’s good to have them,” Klare said of Brady’s tip about cards. “It’s just good to have them because they’re yours.”
Mike Mahan, the CEO of Fanatics Collectibles, echoed Brady’s pointer, noting the cards “are going to be memories” for the players.
“Not everyone is going to make it,” Mahan told The Post. “Not everyone is going to go on to become a star. But having your trading cards, they’re all going to be memories. They’re all going to be important. Even if they don’t matter to everyone — they’ll matter to someone. And there’s something fun about that.”
Klare will have plenty of items to hunt down once they officially get inserted into packs — he told The Post he was anticipating signing 8,500 total Topps cards during his weekend at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere.
And while Klare also soaked in Brady’s preaching about preparation, mindset and everything else that goes along with “what it takes to have a long career and be successful within the league,” he made it clear he’s going to make an effort to heed Brady’s advice about getting some of his cards back in his hands.
“To be able to hear from a guy like that, you gotta listen,” he said. “It’s very impactful.”
