In this era of social media, many people have been made rich and famous by their ability to leverage a unique online persona. One of the most successful at this has been streamer “IShowSpeed,” or just “Speed.”
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The YouTuber, born in 2005 (feel old yet?) and whose real name is Darren Watkins, started hitting the mainstream in 2021 when he was just 16. His Energizer-bunny level of energy and enthusiasm, paired with his surprising athletic ability, made him a favorite among streaming fans.
That athletic ability inevitably led to crossovers with sports teams and athletes and fueled his obsession with Portuguese soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo.
There’s perhaps no one on Earth who’s a bigger Ronaldo fan than Speed. He’s been joking with Tyreek Hill about a race for months and even appeared at WWE’s WrestleMania. But anything Ronaldo-related still takes the cake for him. That’s why NFL legend Tom Brady, known for doing his homework, surprised Speed with a Ronaldo relic when the two linked up recently.
“I brought something for you too. I know it’s your guy,” Brady said as he revealed the signed rookie Cristiano Ronaldo card. “A rookie card, from Card Vault by Tom Brady.”
Speed could only shout, “What? WHAAAAAAT!?”
“You come to my house, I show you around, I give you snacks, and I know he’s your guy,” Brady added.
Tom Brady shows love to IShowSpeed by gifting him a signed Cristiano Ronaldo rookie card 🥹🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/EcRg3OTXUq
— Speedy Updates (@SpeedUpdates1) August 28, 2025
As his fans have come to expect, Speed went wild when Tom Brady handed him the surprise gift. He was blown away by the card, but almost immediately, you could see his brain switch into money-making mode.
“I don’t even have this one. Damn, this is like, rare! This is 2002 right? This is a 2002 one! This might be dumb rare! This might be worth some change!”
The fact that Speed didn’t already have that card might not seem like a big deal to some, but considering how obsessed he is with Ronaldo and how much money he has access to buy rare Cristiano Ronaldo memorabilia like that, it’s a pretty impressive pull from Brady.
The card is valued at around $112K, but with Ronaldo’s signature, it could easily fetch double.
Speed first met Ronaldo in June 2023, when he caught up with the global sports icon in a car park after Portugal’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Euro qualifiers.
Speed even released a song about Ronaldo back in 2022 that served as something of an announcement of his fandom for the legendary Portuguese striker.
