“To retire, or not to retire?” seemed to be the question — until the veteran quarterback finally set the record straight on Tuesday.
“I have always believed the sport of football is an “all-in” proposition – if a 100% competitive commitment isn’t there, you won’t succeed, and success is what I love so much about our game,” Brady said via Twitter and Instagram. “This is difficult for me to write, but here it goes: I am not going to make that competitive commitment anymore.”
A report last Saturday from ESPN’s Adam Schefter was quickly refuted by Tom Brady, Sr. and his son’s agent, Don Yee. Each indicated only “TB12” the man, not the brand, could offer the official announcement, with all other claims rendered gun-jumping folly by default.
Drafted in the sixth round out of the University of Michigan in 2000, the surprise-on-all-cylinders Brady usurped the New England Patriots quarterback job from an injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001 before taking the league by its horns for two uninterrupted decades.
Unlike in the MLB, no amount of involvement in football deflation-based cheating scandals could undo or demand asterisk attachment to seven Super Bowl trophies and three MVPs. Six of these titles came as the co-leader of the Bill Belichick-helmed Pats before he shocked the world once more by breaking up the early pandemic news with his March 2020 declaration: to take his talents southbound.
In just his first of two seasons as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Brady netted his seventh and final Super Bowl victory – remembered by many locals as the easiest of his big-game wins to stomach, despite it taking place during last year’s major Northeastern snowstorm. Apropos, as nearly a full year later, the days-premature – but nevertheless accurate – decision to call it quits was first teased to the masses on the day of the region’s steepest snowfall of this Winter.
Disgruntled New York shovelers-turned-celebrators notwithstanding, the league will surely miss he who has been universally christened the greatest to ever do it, as he’s essentially broken every quarterback record that matters, 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).
“It’s like my childhood ending – he’s been a QB since I was in first grade. I’m 27 now,” said John Merlein, one of the few Patriots fans residing in Hauppauge.
Spotrac presumed Brady had QB-snuck into damage control mode to guarantee $15 million of his $20 million signing bonus could still be paid out on February 4. Did other factors play a hand?
His initial intent was to announce through his production company, according to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Or perhaps the leak was a Brady-issued directive to gauge reaction without fully setting a course for the sunset – not dissimilar to Albert Brooks surveying his own funeral in the most recent season of Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. Pretty, pretty good strategy, if that’s the case.
The strict-regimented 44-year-old could have easily remained a standout, or serviceable at the least, shot-caller for another four to five years. But, as Brady stated in a January 24 episode of his “Let’s Go!” podcast, he had been too luckily unscathed in the pocket to consider continuing onward without weighing the risks.
“It pains her (wife, Giselle Bündchen) to see me get hit out there,” Brady admitted. “And she deserves what she needs from me as a husband and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad.”
The entertainment world awaits whether the freed-up Brady will sign on for an enhanced role in the long-overdue Ted 3. But do not let the “G.O.A.T’s” departure deter you from the exciting developments abound league-wide for those who remain.
After a decade-plus of skills unrecognized in obscurity, Matt Stafford guided his new squad to a Super Bowl appearance on the year anniversary of his trade to the Los Angeles Rams. They will square off against the can-do-no-wrong Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday, February 13 at the Rams’ own SoFi Stadium. This marks the second-ever, and second-consecutive occasion in which a Super Bowl competitor will play on their home-turf (The Bucs won it all at Raymond James Stadium on February 7 of last year).
The Bengals upset Patrick Mahomes and the favored Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship, forging a comeback not quite as impressive as the Patriots’ climb back from a 28-3 deficit against the Atlanta Falcons a few Super Bowls back. But, again: comparing anybody to Tom Brady is comparing apples to intergalactic wrenches.
