Best Cars From The NFL’s Uppermost Echelon

Some professional football players might prefer to take it easy off the field, but some still have a need for speed.  

Car collecting isn’t an unusual hobby for celebrities, even those who aren’t typically associated with the auto industry or motorsports. Take Jay Leno, for example, whose well-known passion for collecting cars on the side eventually became his main gig (CNBC show Jay Leno’s Garage). But some celebrities, particularly athletes, are a lot more secretive about the large collections they’ve amassed over the years.  

As of the 2019-2020 season, most NFL teams were paying their players an average salary of between two and three million dollars, with star players and highly valued positions earning significantly more. That leaves a lot of disposable income for these players to spend on automotive hobbies, and the best collections often belong to the biggest stars in the league. 

Tom Brady’s Audi R8: Emran Kassim/Wikipedia Commons/CC BY 2.0 

No matter what you think about Tampa Bay’s new Buccaneer, it’s hard to deny that Tom Brady has reached GOAT status in the sport, and his car collection is filled with the kind of ultra-high-end luxury that you’d expect at that level of success. His garage includes a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, an Aston Martin DB11, and an Audi R8, as well as another Aston Martin that he created in collaboration with their bespoke design team. The “Tom Brady Signature Edition” Aston Martin Vanquish S was unveiled in 2017, and only 12 were built.  

From the Tom Brady Special Edition Vanquish S Volante: AstonMartin_CLE/Twitter 

And what about Brady’s teammate, Rob Gronkowski? He actually has pretty similar taste, also opting for the Audi R8, throwing in a Q7 for good measure, and pairing them with another classic British car, the Bentley Continental GT. It’s not very rugged, but it’s got class. Compare that to the vehicles owned by another NFL car enthusiast, Patrick Mahomes, and it definitely looks as though the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback has a bit more legroom – he recently bought his fiancée Brittany Matthews a spacious four-seater Lamborghini, and also drives the even pricier Rolls Royce Cullinan SUV.