A new record sale for a Jayden Daniels trading card was set when Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris agreed to pay $500,000 for one of Daniels’ most sought-after rookie cards while standing next to the young quarterback on stage at Topps Trade Night on Saturday.
Harris and Daniels were special guests at the event, which followed Day 2 of Fanatics Fest at the Javits Center.
Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin played negotiator on the microphone in front of a sizable crowd after asking attendees who had the most valuable Daniels card with them. Josh Roth and Jacob Ramos of the Florida-based Rothcards answered that call with Daniels’ 2024 Panini Prizm Black Finite one-of-one card.
After a quick back-and-forth chat, Harris agreed through Rubin to purchase the card. In addition to the $500,000, Roth and Ramos also received an autographed Daniels jersey, which the 2024 NFL offensive rookie of the year and 2023 Heisman Trophy winner inked on the spot.
Harris will display the card at the Commanders’ Northwest Stadium, according to Fanatics.
The original unearthing of the Daniels Black Finite card bears its own improbable story.
A collector with the username “Dr. Moist Muffins” acquired the card from a pack through a box break (where collectors pay for a select portion of the cards opened by a third party) on a Fanatics Live stream around midday New Year’s Day. Dr. Ojash Raval, as he’s known outside of trading card livestreams, only spent $36 for the rights to all the Commanders cards in the break.
The monster Daniels card then emerged from a pack, spurring immediate offers from interested buyers. Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit and husband to tennis legend Serena Williams, had previously offered a $200,000 public bounty to whoever pulled the card.
Roth wouldn’t give an exact amount of how much was spent in buying the card from “Dr. Moist Muffins,” but said it was in the mid-$300,000 range. So Roth and Ramos will share in a profit of about $150,000 on the card.
And as much as the original discovery of the card came by chance, the card’s sale to Harris felt just as improbable.
Roth said he walked into Fanatics Fest before the doors opened early Saturday since his business had purchased a table to sell cards at the show. He found Rubin “just chilling, kicking a soccer ball” in the Dick’s Sporting Goods set-up near one of the Fest’s entrances. Ramos called the encounter with Rubin “just random.”
“I walked up to him and said, ‘Yo, we’ve got to show Jayden this card. It’s the best (Daniels) card in existence,’” Roth said. “Now granted, it’s not a Topps product. So Rubin was kind of (hesitant).”
Roth said his table had a great day at the show and he and his business partner Ramos then walked into the Topps trade night, which is essentially a swap meet for card collectors, on the top floor of Javits Center after the Fest closed up shop for the day.
Rubin introduced Daniels and Harris to the crowd and shortly after asked, “Who has the biggest Jayden Daniels card?” The duo, with the help of a bulky lead blocker, broke through the crowd to the stage holding up the one-of-a-kind card.
Rubin asked Roth what he thought the card was worth. Roth shouted “$2 million!” Rubin asked again what the card was really worth, turning to Fanatics Collect CEO Mike Mahan for his assessment, which was $500,000.
Roth went right for Rubin’s heart, invoking the Paul Skenes Topps MLB Debut Patch autographed one-of-one card that famously sold for $1.11 million to Dick’s Sporting Goods in March. As he continued to plead the case for the card, Rubin named the price:
“Alright one time, half a million dollars. You want it? From Josh Harris, with Jayden here right now.”
Roth looked back at Ramos and quickly agreed on the sale.
“It was such an experience to be on stage with just everyone. It really happened so fast. Moments like that are timeless,” Ramos said.
“That was our negotiation right there. I should have countered him!” Roth said with a laugh.
Roth said the duo held onto the card by design for the summer months, thinking it would be “exciting” given how much momentum Daniels’ hobby stock would carry into the 2025 NFL season. Daniels was the second most searched athlete on eBay in May behind only Michael Jordan. Roth added that he hoped for a seven-figure payday for the card, “but when the moment came, we just had to say yes to a deal like that.”
“We were kind of looking for Jayden in the other room (the main Fest area on the floor below), and it kind of didn’t work out,” Roth said. “And then we come up here. If it happens, it happens. It just so happens that fate worked out perfectly.”
As for “Dr. Moist Muffins?” He’s thrilled to be connected to another wild piece of trading card history.
“It’s satisfying to see that card go to the owner of the Commanders!” Raval told The Athletic on Sunday. “It’s been very cool to see the journey that card has taken, from the break all the way to its future home. That card will always hold a special place in my heart. Congrats to Josh and best of luck to Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders this upcoming season!”
The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission.
(
Leave a Reply