Don’t count him out of the game just yet.
Legendary quarterback Tom Brady hasn’t made up his mind about retiring, he told the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, despite earlier reports that claimed the seven-time Super Bowl champ would exit the NFL.
Two sources familiar with the conversation told The Associated Press that Brady hasn’t made up his mind about retirement.
ESPN first reported Brady’s retirement on Saturday, citing unidentified sources. Brady’s company also posted a tweet indicating he’s retiring, and reaction began pouring in from around the world congratulating Brady on his career.
But the tweet was later deleted, and Brady’s agent, Don Yee, said the 44-year-old quarterback would be the only person to accurately express his future.
TB12 Sports had tweeted, before it was deleted 30 minutes later: ‘7 Super Bowl Rings. 5 Super Bowl MVPs. 3 League MVP Awards. 22 Incredible Seasons. Thank you for it all @TomBrady.’
Brady called Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht to say he has not made a decision, according to two people who spoke to The AP on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the conversations.
He spent the first 20 years of his career with the New England Patriots before moving to Tampa Bay with a two-year deal in March 2020.
The 44-year-old had previously stated that he planned to play in the NFL until he turned 45, which will be this August, and had hoped to leave after winning another Super Bowl.
Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion and the NFL’s career leader in numerous passing categories, is under contract with the Buccaneers for 2022, but he has cited a desire to spend more time with his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, and three children despite still playing at the top of his game.
Tom Brady has announced that he hasn’t decided if he will retired from the NFL after ESPN reported he was leaving the league earlier on Saturday
Earlier on Saturday, ESPN’s sources said the superstar athlete was considering his family, health and the likely Buccaneers roster turnover while making his highly-anticipated decision.
‘Many who know him believed he desired a decision made without much drama leading up to it,’ ESPN reported. He had previously said that he didn’t want to play a ‘farewell season.’
The Tampa Bay team has been expecting Brady’s retirement, with one source saying ‘all signs point’ to the top quarterback not returning next season – yet that remains to be seen.
The legendary quarterback, who is widely considered one of the greatest of all time, has earned seven Super Bowl rings, been named Super Bowl MVP five times and won the NFL’s MVP award three times throughout his career.
He currently has more Super Bowl wins than any franchise team on its own, winning six with the Patriots (2002, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2017, 2019) and one with the Buccaneers (2021). And he’s the only player to win a Super Bowl in three different decades. He has never had a losing season.
Brady so far has played 316 games and recorded 243 regular season wins; he has completed 84,520 passing yards, 624 passing touchdowns and 14 postseason game-winning drives.
Brady had recently told fans that he would consider his family’s needs when deciding whether he would continue playing
The legendary quarterback is the oldest active player in the NFL
He spent the first 20 years of his career at New England Patriots before moving to Tampa Bay for the past two years
The 44-year-old is widely considered as the best player in the history of the sport after some stunning accolades. Pictured: Brady with the New England Patriots in 2002 playing against the St. Louis Rams
Most analysts agree that Brady will be inducted into the Football Hall of Fame.
However, a recent post shared by Brady last week had fans speculating an early retirement saying his family would have a big say in whether he continues.
‘I understand that at this stage in my career, there is going to be interest in my future whenever a season ends, but this week, all that is on my mind is the gratitude I have for this team and the fans that have supported us all year long.
‘This year has been incredibly rewarding personally and professionally and I am appreciative of everyone who worked their ass off to help our team achieve so much. I always want to win, I think that’s pretty apparent by now, but that doesn’t mean I equate losing to failure, especially when you go out fighting the way we did..
‘There’s so much to appreciate in a season like this when you’re surrounded by a team that believes in each other, and plays for the people standing on either side of them. I’ll spare you the Man in the Arena quote, but that feeling is something that I promise I’ll never take for granted. To everyone that was a part of it this year, thank you. I love you all!’ he wrote on Instagram.
Brady married model Gisele Bündchen in 2009 and has three young children: John ‘Jack’ Moynahan 14, Benjamin Brady, 12, and Vivian Brady, 9. He shares his oldest child with actress Bridget Moynahan and his two youngest with his wife.
‘My wife is my biggest supporter,’ Brady said on his ‘Let’s Go!’ podcast. ‘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.
‘I’m gonna 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 need to do and I said this a few years ago.
‘It’s what relationships are all about. It’s not always about what I want. It’s about what we want as a family. And I’m gonna spend a lot of time with them and figure out in the future what’s next.’
Brady has racked up seven Super Bowl trophies and earned the MVP award five times during his outstanding career
Before the tweet was deleted and Brady announced he was sure he was leaving, tributes poured in from across the globe, with fans hailing Brady as ‘the greatest’
The hint’s at Brady’s retirement could be strategic in a bid to give Tampa Bay time to find a replacement, with the conference championships on Sunday and then the Super Bowl a fortnight later
The hint’s at Brady’s retirement could be strategic in a bid to give Tampa Bay time to find a replacement, with the conference championships on Sunday and then the Super Bowl a fortnight later.
Known for his work ethic, intense exercise and nutrition regimen, Brady found a funny way to congratulate Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on his retirement earlier this week.
Brady wrote: “Ben defied the TB12 Method in favor of the “Throw Some Ice On It” method his whole career, and ended up an all-time-great with 6 Pro-Bowls and 2 Super Bowls. There’s more than one way to bake a cake!”
Overlooked by every team coming out of Michigan, Brady was eventually selected by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft with the 199th overall pick. He replaced an injured Drew Bledsoe as the starter in 2001 and led New England to a Super Bowl victory over the heavily favored Rams that season.
Brady went on to lead the Patriots to Super Bowl victories over the Panthers following the 2003 season and Eagles after the 2004 season. No team has since repeated as champions.
But New England wouldn’t win another one for a decade, twice losing to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl, including a 17-14 defeat on February 3, 2008, that prevented the Patriots from completing a perfect season.
Brady earned his fourth ring when the Patriots held off Seattle thanks to Malcolm Butler’s interception at the goal line in the Super Bowl after the 2014 season.
Two years later, in the biggest Super Bowl comeback, he led the Patriots out of a 28-3 deficit in the third quarter against Atlanta to win in overtime.
After losing to the Eagles and backup quarterback Nick Foles the following year, Brady got his sixth championship when New England shut down the Rams following the 2018 season.
He joined the Buccaneers in 2020 amid a pandemic, instilling a winning culture for a franchise that hadn’t won a playoff game in 18 years. With his old friend Rob Gronkowski joining him in Tampa, Brady helped the Buccaneers become the first team to play in a Super Bowl in its stadium. Naturally, Brady won again.
Brady threw more touchdown passes in his 40s (168) than in his 20s (147).
In the 20 seasons he has been a starter, Brady reached the playoffs 19 times, won 18 division titles, went 10-4 in conference championships and 7-3 in Super Bowls. He played in the conference championship eight times in his last 10 years.
Since starting his first game on September 30, 2001, Brady has been under center for every game except when he suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 1 in 2008 and the first four games in 2016 when he sat out a suspension because of the deflated footballs scandal.