Tom Brady to premiere an only-in-Las Vegas trophy case

Tom Brady originally dreamed of playing baseball at Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif. Baseball legend Barry Bonds played ball there. Serra was known as a baseball power, with Bonds the game’s GOAT.

“He was the guy we looked up to,” Brady, the GOAT among NFL QBs, said in a speech at Wednesday morning’s media preview of the Hall of Excellence at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas. “We wanted to be like Barry Bonds … I really wanted to play pro baseball.”

Serra was not a football school, and Brady was not a football player. His parents, Tom Brady Sr. and Galynn Brady, didn’t allow the youngest of four children (and only son) to pull on a helmet until he was a freshman at Serra.

“I made the freshman football team. We were 0-8,” Brady recalled. “I was the backup quarterback. They never put me in a game. The fact that I can look at that, many years later, from being a 14-year-old kid to almost 48 now, is pretty amazing. It was a long journey.”

That history is reflected under glass at the Hall of Excellence, opening to the public Friday morning.

Brady is in the game with his Tom Brady Family Collection, alongside broadcast great Jim Gray and his wife, Frann Vettor-Gray. The museum is an ongoing residency production (to use Strip entertainment terms), a deal authorized and supported by Fontainebleau Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Soffer.

Exhibited on the hotel-casino’s second level, the 3,100-square-foot space will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

The items arrive from all facets of the sports culture. The common denominator is every one of them is the result of a team effort.

“Everybody in the (Hall of Excellence) has people that inspired them, that supported them, that held them up,” Brady said. “Nobody can do it alone, we all need each other, we need to support one another, we need to build people up.”

“There’s no greater destination in the world for this ‘Smithsonian’ of sports artifacts. In fact, I don’t think the Smithsonian can handle what we put together.”

Laden with Brady’s seven Super Bowl rings and myriad championship trophies, the Hall of Excellence is inspired by the Raiders’ famous “Commitment to Excellence” creed. The NFL legend and Fox broadcaster is part-owner of the Raiders and Aces.

A partial list of exhibited items, some of which are pulled from the celeb-entertainment realm: Brady’s seven Super Bowl rings, from his six Patriots victories and one with the Buccaneers; Michael Jordan’s first pair of Air Jordans (1984) and first NBA championship shoes (1991 NBA Finals); the bat used by Jackie Robinson when he broke baseball’s color barrier (1947); Muhammad Ali’s gloves from his fight against George Chuvalo (1966); a U.S. Olympic Dream Team jersey and opening ceremony uniform (1992); Clint Eastwood’s Academy Award for “Unforgiven” (1993); Kobe Bryant’s first nationally televised game jersey (1996); the golf ball used by Tiger Woods during his first Masters victory (1997); Billie Jean King’s tennis dress (1974); Oprah Winfrey’s Presidential Medal of Freedom (2013) and Tony Award for “The Color Purple” (2016); Aces WNBA championship rings (2022, 2023); a Golden Knights Stanley Cup championship ring (2023), and golf balls and baseballs signed by U.S. presidents dating to Woodrow Wilson.

Also in the mix: a trophy room that includes the Vince Lombardi trophy, the Heisman trophy, the Claret Jug, the MLB Commissioner’s Trophy, Larry O’Brien championship trophy (NBA Finals), Wimbledon, U.S. Open golf and U.S. Open tennis trophies, the Pete Rozelle Super Bowl MVP trophy, Olympic gold medals, Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Academy Awards, and many others.

If you’re thinking, “Morgan Freeman should narrate this tour,” he does. You will also hear from all-star guest narrators, among them Winfrey, Marv Albert, Jim Nantz, Bob Costas, Mike Emrick, Mary Carillo, Andres Cantor, Snoop Dogg, Brady and Gray.

The tour is enriched by the detail in the audio storytelling, available on a handheld device with wired earpods you can keep. Scan the item with the device, and the story pops up on the screen. The history behind all 300 pieces is described in a script written by the fine Sports Illustrated writer and author Greg Bishop.

Original music is in the mix, too. The premiere of the will.i.am song “XLNC” (“excellence”) is also part of the tour. The result is a “sticky” experience. You can spend 30 minutes at the Hall of Excellence. Or you can waft through the multimedia journey for a couple of hours.

Jim Gray said the museum was years in the making, culled from his own personal collection and Brady’s personal possessions.

“We’ve thought about this for eight years,” Gray said after the formal event. Several locations were reviewed before the Fontainebleau was chosen. “Everything evolves. Some places where we had opportunities, we didn’t think were right. Some places we liked didn’t come through. The best results where we are.”

The project involves a partnership among longtime friends. Brady has been close, both personally and professionally, to Soffer for years. These respective legends are neighbors in Indian Creek Village in Miami-Dade County.

Gray’s history with Brady dates to February 2002, Gray’s interview with the QB prior to the Patriots’ 20-17 over the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.

Brady said he and Gray wanted to bring their collective collection out of storage, and to the masses.

“Artifacts like these do not belong hidden away,” Brady said. “They should be shared with the fans who were along for the journey with us.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.