Do call it a comeback.
Forty days – and nearly forty nights – after disrupting the rare NFL Conference Championship weekend he was already eliminated from with news of his retirement, the all-time great has reversed his tune.
“These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands,” the quarterback tweeted on Sunday. “That time will come. But it’s not now.”
Set to reunite with The Bay that’s housed his talents for the past two seasons after two decades in New England, Brady has, at least for now, quelled earlier speculation he would only come back to the league to run plays for his boyhood-beloved San Francisco 49ers.
“Tom is the greatest quarterback of all time who is still playing at an elite level,” Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said in a statement on Sunday. “With this decision now made, we will continue to move forward with our offseason plans to reload this roster for another championship run,” he added.
As reported, Brady’s initial decision to leave the sport behind was of the reluctant variety. He ultimately decided to appease wife Giselle Bündchen’s growing concerns about the cumulative hits he has taken, and the hits he’s yet to receive.
“It pains her to see me get hit out there,” Brady admitted on his Let’s Go podcast back in January, “and she deserves what she needs from me as a husband and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad.”
Now, with the “full support of his family” to give it another go, it remains to be seen whether or not the 44-year-old will call it quits once more after landing another ring, or if he’ll stay at his most familiar post for the foreseeable future. As Brady and pundits across the board have often contended, based on his strict regimen and diet, mental acumen, and mostly undiminished skillset, it is more than doable for him to last in the league until the age of 50, at the least.
The Canton-destined “G.O.A.T” candidate holds a multitude of quarterback records, including, per NBC Sports:
Regular Season: Wins by a starting QB (243), Passing yards (84,520), Passing touchdowns (624), Completions (7,263), Touchdowns thrown to different receivers (82), Division titles (18), Pro Bowl appearances (15) and only player to beat all 32 NFL teams
Postseason: Games started (47), Wins by a starting QB (35), Passing yards (13,049), Passing yards in a game (505), Passing touchdowns (86), Completions (1,165) and Game-winning drives (14)
Super Bowl: Appearances (10), Wins (7, more than any NFL franchise), MVPs (5), TD passes (21), Passing yards (3,039), Completions (277), Pass attempts (421), Passing yards in a game (505), Completions in a game (43), Pass attempts in a game (62) and Game-winning drives (6)
With fellow veteran stand-out of the position Aaron Rodgers having recently landed a deal to make over $50 million per season over the next three years in Green Bay, expect Brady, who has never signed for over $25 million a season, to ink some gobsmacking guarantees for himself as well. And whatever may be happening in the sports world on that day, you best believe it will play second fiddle to ‘Brady Watch,’ as March Madness bracketologists can attest.
“I knew it wasn’t over!” exclaimed John Merlein, 27. The Hauppauge-residing lifelong Patriots fan previously felt as if his “childhood was ending’ upon reading the announcement earlier this year that his quarterback from first grade on through to his mid-20s had played his last down.
But, as is the case with sports fandom, you simply can never say never.
There is no word yet on what Brady’s Super Bowl odds-shifting change of heart means for the production of the first post-retirement acting deal he negotiated; no, not the long-awaited ‘Ted 3,’ but rather ‘80 for Brady’ – a Paramount ensemble featuring the eponymous athlete alongside actresses Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, and Sara Gilbert.
