The fan who found himself in possession of the football Lance Franklin kicked for his 1000th AFL goal has said he’d return the ball to the Sydney Swans superstar.
After the Swans sent out an SOS in a bid to find Franklin’s 1000th AFL goal ball, the fan posted a photo of the ball on Instagram with a short message.
“Update on the pill. She’ll be returned. Big things coming on Tuesday,” the fan wrote.
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Franklin slotted his 1000th six-pointer with five minutes remaining in the final quarter against Geelong on Friday night, with the majority of the 30,000 spectators running onto the SCG.
While all attention was on Franklin and the momentous achievement, with the Sydney juggernaut joining legendary goal-kickers Tony Lockett, Gordon Goventry, Jason Dunstall, Doug Wade and Gary Ablett Senior as the only players in league history to have kicked more than 1000 goals, the status of the huge piece of memorabilia that was guided through the posts was initially unknown.
Multiple outlets reported on Saturday morning that the Swans were set to launch an appeal into finding the ball, as a video of the fan who ended up with it surfaced on social media.
“I got the pill!” he screamed, after diving across a row of seats to grab the ball.
“I have the pill! I have to get out of here!”
NFL legend Tom Brady recently made an offer of one Bitcoin for the ball he threw his 600th touchdown with, to a fan who was given the ball by one of Brady’s teammates, Mike Evans, during the game.
On top of that, the Buccaneers, Brady’s team, offered a haul of gifts to the fan.
According to the team, that haul included two signed Brady jerseys, a helmet, a jersey autographed by Evans and Evans’ game-worn cleats.
The team also gave the fan two season tickets for the remainder of the 2021 season and all of the 2022 season, plus a $1,000 credit to the team store.
“There was a lot of negotiations to get the ball back,” Brady told ESPN.
“I think it worked out.
“I am also giving him a Bitcoin. That’s pretty cool, too.
“At the end of the day, I think he’s still making out pretty well.”
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