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LAS VEGAS – The glamorous Fontainebleau Las Vegas was elevated to legendary status Friday morning when the resort held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Hall of Excellence featuring memorabilia from seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and Emmy Award-winning sportscaster Jim Gray.
Guests at the ceremony received a firsthand look at some of the items from Brady and Gray’s collections.
Brady’s seven Super Bowl rings were on display as well as Gray’s official NFL football signed by every starting Super Bowl-winning quarterback.
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Tom Brady attends Jim and Frann Gray in Partnership with Tom Brady and The Tom Brady Family Collection Bring Hall of Excellence to Fontainebleau Las Vegas at Fontainebleau Las Vegas Feb. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Fontainebleau Las Vegas)
The two items will be on display to the public in a few months.
"Well, my great friend (Chairman and CEO Fontainebleau Development Jeffrey Soffer) welcomed Jim and I with the concept," Brady told Fox News Digital after the event. "Jim had an amazing collection of artifacts over a long period of time, and we talked about doing something. And we thought, where are the most visitors in the world attracted to every year? And it’s Las Vegas.
"We conceived it for a while. We talked to Jeff about it over a year and a half ago, and he created space for us. I think we have the greatest artifacts in the world from sports and media, and I think it’s going to be an incredible destination for so many decades to come."
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Jim Gray and Tom Brady attend Jim and Frann Gray in Partnership with Tom Brady and The Tom Brady Family Collection Bring Hall of Excellence to Fontainebleau Las Vegas at Fontainebleau Las Vegas Feb. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Fontainebleau Las Vegas)
Gray spoke glowingly of Brady in his speech during the ceremony.
"It’s an honor for me and (his wife) Frann for Jeff and the Fontainebleau to have you share with us and to partner with us on the Hall of Excellence," Gray said of Brady. "You are the standard of excellence.
"And many of you won’t believe this, but this man is a much better human being than he ever was a quarterback."
Soffer told Fox News Digital the items that will be on display go beyond the traditional memorabilia seen in card shops and hobby stories.
"It’s got all these memorabilia from boxing, football, baseball — every aspect of every sport," he said. "It’s gonna be an unbelievable collection. That’s why when they first originally brought the idea to me, I was like, ‘Yeah this would be great.’ Obviously, you see a lot of sports memorabilia stores, but it’s not a guy signing a baseball. … This is all serious stuff."
Peter Arnell, the chief brand and design officer for Fontainebleau Development, said it took the group about a year and a half to really figure out what they had.
Jim Gray, Jeffrey Soffer, Tom Brady and Peter Arnell attend Jim and Frann Gray in Partnership with Tom Brady and The Tom Brady Family Collection Bring Hall of Excellence to Fontainebleau Las Vegas at Fontainebleau Las Vegas Feb. 9, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Fontainebleau Las Vegas)
"But it’s not just what we have," Arnell explained to Fox News Digital. "It’s the meaning behind it as Tom was referring to. And it’s very special stuff. It’s some of the rarest art. It’s the early days of Muhammad Ali when he had Parkinson’s disease. It’s LeRoy Neiman’s first and most famous painting of Muhammad in the ring. It’s stuff that you’ve seen and haven’t seen."
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The Fontainebleau Las Vegas opened on the strip in December. Brady was among those who attended the opening festivities.
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