Tom Brady is considered by many to be the greatest quarterback in NFL history. But Saturday his future turned into the NFL’s greatest mystery.
ESPN and the Boston Globe, both citing unidentified sources, reported that Brady is retiring from the NFL after an unprecedented career in which the quarterback won seven Super Bowls and set numerous passing records.
Brady’s company, TB12sports, confirmed the news on its Twitter account, then deleted the tweet.
Credit: Twitter
Credit: Twitter
But the Associated Press later reported that Brady called Tampa Bay Bucs general manager Jason Licht to say he has not made a decision, according to two people who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the conversations.
Brady’s father, Tom Sr., told KRON-4 News in San Francisco that his son is not retiring. Brady Sr. said an online publication started circulating an unsubstantiated rumor.
Brady’s agent, Don Yee, said the 44-year-old quarterback would be the only person to accurately express his future.
“I understand the advance speculation about Tom’s future. 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,” Yee wrote in a statement. “He knows the realities of the football business and planning calendar as well as anybody, so that should be soon.”
But several past and current teammates, athletes from other sports like the Hawks’ Trae Young and NASCAR star Chase Elliott of Dawsonville, and even the NFL itself rushed to praise the QB on Twitter.
If he retires, Brady would be going out after leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title last season and NFC South championship this season.
Brady broke the hearts of Falcons fans when he led the New England Patriots to a 34-28 overtime victory over the Falcons in Super Bowl LI on February 5, 2017. The Falcons led the game 28–3 midway through the third quarter.
Credit: JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JSPINK@AJC.COM
Brady has cited a desire to spend more time with his wife and children despite still playing at the top of his game. Brady led the NFL in yards passing (5,316), touchdowns (43), completions (485) and attempts (719), but the Buccaneers lost at home to the Los Angeles Rams last Sunday in the divisional round.
Brady won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots in 20 seasons playing for coach Bill Belichick. He joined the Buccaneers in 2020 and led them to the second Super Bowl title in franchise history.
Brady would leave the game as the career leader in yards passing (84,520) and TDs (624). He’s the only player to win more than five Super Bowls and was MVP of the game five times.
Credit: bandres@ajc.com
Credit: bandres@ajc.com
Brady has won three NFL MVP awards, was a first-team All-Pro three times and was selected to the Pro Bowl 15 times. He is 243-73 in his career in the regular season and 35-12 in the playoffs.
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.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
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 Feb. 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 past the Falcons.
Credit: CCOMPTON@AJC.COM
Credit: CCOMPTON@AJC.COM
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 to 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 has thrown more touchdown passes in his 40s (168) than in his 20s (147).
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