Tom Brady to Retire from the NFL After 22 Seasons

Tom Brady appears poised to retire from the NFL after 22 seasons in which he established himself as perhaps the greatest player in pro football history. But with equal parts confusion and anticipation surrounding his decision, the future Hall of Famer was not ready to make any official proclamations today.

Brady’s retirement was announced on social media by TB12 Sports, the health and wellness company that the quarterback developed with his longtime trainer, Alex Guerrero. It was also reported by ESPN, citing unnamed sources. But Brady’s company deleted its retirement post, and Brady has not informed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that he’s done playing for them.

Still, speculation has grown in recent days that Brady had taken his last NFL snap, and a person with knowledge of the matter said it was believed that Brady is indeed retiring.

Like most things, Brady intends to do it on his terms – and the TB12 Sports announcement apparently caught many people close to him by surprise. Before TB12 Sports deleted its tweet, the NFL’s official Twitter account had paid tribute to Brady’s career. So, too, did former New England Patriots teammate Julian Edelman and Buccaneers receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.

As the sports world rushed to congratulate the seven-time Super Bowl winner on an unparalleled career, people close to the quarterback sought to tap the brakes on the news. Brady’s agent, Don Yee, did not dispute that Brady is retiring but said that the announcement would come only from Brady.

“I understand the advance speculation about Tom’s future,” Yee said in a statement issued to media outlets. “Without getting into the accuracy or inaccuracy of what’s being reported, Tom will be the only person to express his plans with complete accuracy. He knows the realities of the football business and planning calendar as well as anybody, so that should be soon.”

Buccaneers Coach Bruce Arians told the Tampa Bay Times that Yee had informed the team the quarterback had not reached a decision. The paper reported that Brady also called Jason Licht, the team’s general manager, and similarly said he had not yet decided whether to retire or continue playing.

Brady would be stepping away after two seasons with the Buccaneers that followed two decades with the Patriots. Brady secured seven Super Bowl titles, the first six in tandem with Coach Bill Belichick with the Patriots. He is the NFL’s career leader in passing yards and touchdown passes, among so much else.

Brady turns 45 in August. His contract with the Buccaneers was to run through the 2022 season. But retirement speculation began last week and intensified through last weekend. Brady and the Buccaneers were eliminated from the NFC playoffs with a divisional-round loss last Sunday at home to the Los Angeles Rams. Brady said after that game that he was not yet ready to announce a decision.

He said Monday on his Sirius XM podcast that family considerations would weigh heavily.

“The biggest difference now that I’m older is I have kids now too, you know, and I care about them a lot as well,” Brady said on the podcast. “They’ve been my biggest supporters. My wife is my biggest supporter. It pains her to see me get hit out there. And she deserves what she needs from me as a husband and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad. And I’m going to spend some time with them and give them what they need because they’ve really been giving me what I need the last six months to do what I love to do.”

Brady was a three-time NFL Most Valuable Player and a five-time Super Bowl MVP.

“My enjoyment comes from not a recognition of kind of what I’ve accomplished as a player in the league,” Brady said during this week’s podcast. “My enjoyment comes from the competition. More so than anything, even [Sunday], I was thinking about competing. I was thinking about, this whole year, about competing. I wasn’t thinking about anything other than that. So when the time comes to think about post-career and second career, I’ll think about those things.

“It’s just when you’re 44, I guess you get asked about that a lot. And a lot of people thought I was done playing football in 2015. A lot of people in 2016 said, ‘You’re done.’ A lot of people in 2018 and when I left the Patriots, they said, ‘You’re done.’ ”

Brady led the NFL in passing attempts, completions, passing yards and touchdown passes in his final season.

“I would say I’m proud and satisfied of everything we accomplished this year,” Brady said. “So I know when I give it my all, that’s something to be proud of. And I’ve literally given everything I had this year, last year, the year before that, the year before that. Like, I don’t leave anything half-[done], you know? I think I leave it with everything that I have . . .. I’ll know when the time is right and there’s no rush to make a decision. So, you know, we’ll just see.”

(c) 2022, The Washington Post · Mark Maske 

{Matzav.com}