NFL legend Tom Brady on his first CA card store: ‘It’s gotta be in Sacramento’
Cristhian Guillen considers Tom Brady, the legendary former NFL quarterback, to be his introduction to football. The Sacramento resident grew up watching Brady and considers football a major part of his life.
So when Guillen heard Brady would be coming to Sacramento on Thursday afternoon, he was first in line at DoCo.
“I have flown to Boston to see this man. I went to the Netflix roast to see this man. I’ve never had an opportunity,” Guillen said. “I’ve never had an opportunity, and I’m hoping today is the day.”
Brady visited downtown to celebrate the opening of the Sacramento location of his trading card store, CardVault, in front of the Golden 1 Center. Across the plaza, hundreds of fans waited in line to get inside his store and have a chance to meet Brady in-person.
As Brady walked out to greet his fans, the crowd roared. The seven-time Super Bowl champion, who played for the New England Patriots and finished his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, commemorated his store’s kickoff with a rally of hundreds of fans, throwing signed footballs to the sea of people across DoCo.
“This is the best turnout we’ve had yet,” Brady said to the crowd.
What is CardVault?
Originally founded in 2020, CardVault caters to trading card collectors and enthusiasts, according to its website. DoCo is the first California location for CardVault, having opened Jan. 13. The rally was hosted by the Sacramento Kings and DoCo staff, according to a news release.
Cofounded with Chris Costa and Ed Kane, the store offers a variety of rare sports cards, Pokemon cards and other collectibles that go for hundreds of dollars. CardVault also buys and trades cards and collectibles.
“When Chris and I talked about where we wanted to start in California, I said it’s gotta be in Sacramento,” Brady said to a crowd of hundreds of fans.
Deemed by many to be the single greatest quarterback in the history of the National Football League, Brady won six Super Bowls with the Patriots and a seventh with the Buccaneers. He played for the New England Patriots for 20 seasons and finished his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2020 to 2022.
Now retired from his playing career, Brady is a commentator for “NFL on Fox,” and a part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders.
His appearance came three days before Super Bowl LX, hosted in Northern California at the San Francisco 49ers’ home venue, Levi’s Stadium. The Patriots are facing the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. If the Patriots win, it’d be their seventh Super Bowl title in franchise history — and their first without Brady at quarterback.
Brady superfans rejoice
DoCo’s entire plaza was dedicated to celebrating Brady. On the West Plaza, prior to Brady’s arrival, fans waited in line to get inside CardVault to meet Brady in-person.
Among the hundreds of fans waiting in line was Keith Parsons, a lifelong football fan. Parsons was decked out in a Brady jersey with the name “God” embroidered on the back and Patriots Super Bowls rings on each finger.
“People say that’s blasphemy. I say it’s not blasphemy if it’s true,” Parsons said pointing to the name “God” on the back of his “No. 12” Brady jersey. “He’s the closest thing (to) God. You got the Pope, you got Tom Brady.”
In his hand, he held a poster of Brady and clipping of a Sacramento Bee story previewing the day’s event. He intended to have Brady sign the poster.
“I was born and raised in Boston, so I’ve been a Boston fan since birth, since I could read, since I could walk, since I could communicate.” Parsons said.
CardVault is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in DoCo’s West Plaza. Guillen camped out at the CardVault storefront at 7 a.m. though the rally didn’t start until 2:30 p.m.
After waiting in line for six hours, DoCo staff handed Guillen a green wristband to get into CardVault — which would guarantee he’d be in the same room as Brady.
Guillen’s eyes lit up. Today was, indeed, the day.
This story was originally published February 5, 2026 at 5:48 PM.
