The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ former quarterback Tom Brady many times proved himself on and off-the-field MVP before deciding to hang his cleats in February this year. Besides some phenomenal records throughout his 23 seasons career, the legendary star used to hit headlines quite frequently due to his unwavering effort to uplift his fellow teammates.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion once sent shockwaves in the NFL as he refused to receive a luxurious Chevy truck despite leading his team to victory with unmatched talent and leadership skills. He instead was adamant about rewarding the gift to the then-young rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler.
Tom Brady passed a Chevy truck to Malcolm Butler
TB12 was named Super Bowl MVP after throwing four touchdowns to lead his former team New England Patriots in defeating the Seattle Seahawks back in 2015, albeit he wanted to hand over the truck he achieved with the MVP trophy to his former teammate Malcolm.
The CB secured the win for the Patriots with an interception in the game’s final moments and the ex-NFL star said it was one of the most crucial game-changing moments in the NFL history and appreciated Chevrolet’s consent to honor Butler.
“I’ve seen several game-changing moments in big games, and Malcom’s interception last Sunday ranks up there as one of the biggest. I appreciate Chevrolet wanting to honor the Super Bowl’s top performer, and I’m glad they have agreed to award Colorado to Malcolm.”
Brady reportedly covered the taxes for his teammate’s truck
The former Bucs legend was scheduled to pay the taxes for his ex-teammates truck. The Chevy Colorado truck was listed as a taxable prize under the Internal Revenue Code, section 74 per NBC Sports. It was taxed at the California Cool’s 39.6 federal income tax rate. The price of the car was around $34,000 back in 2015.
The QB was about to pay a tax bill of $13,500 for it along with a gift tax of $8,000 to hand the keys to Butler as the tax code at that time allowed one $14,000 from any one person to the other person, albeit Butler’s agent later clarified, the then-rookie star would pay taxes on the truck as he had taken delivery. Besides this, Tom Terrific had to pay $42,000 in federal taxes stemming from the Lombardi trophy win.
Brady always seemed to value team achievements and camaraderie over individual rewards. His refusal to accept the truck likely stemmed from the desire to lift one of his teammates up, the nature that still makes him a favorite among many fans to this day!