After the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s loss at the 2022 NFL Playoffs, football fans around the country are asking the same question of the team’s veteran quarterback: is Tom Brady retiring?
Brady’s second season with the Bucs came to an abrupt end on January 23, 2022, after the team’s 30-27 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The star quarterback was on the verge of victory during the Sunday divisional playoff game, rallying his team from a 27-3 deficit to tie the game in the final minute. But with moments to spare, the Rams ultimately defeated the Bucs with a 30-yard field goal by Matt Gay completed as time expired on the game. With this loss, the Bucs and Brady lost their bid to Super Bowl LVI just one year after Brady led his team to win the championship at Super Bowl LV. And now, fans want to know if Brady is thinking of throwing in the towel for good.
More from StyleCaster
Former Bucs player Keyshawn Johnson thinks that the possibility of retirement makes some sense for Brady, who would start another season at the age of 45 if he chose not to step away. “You’ve won seven (Super Bowls) and you’ve played in 10,” Johnson said on ESPN’s Keyshawn, JWill & Max Show. “You’ve accomplished every hardware you could think of and imaginable in terms of professional sports.” The former NFL wide receiver also noted that Brady may consider retirement to spend more time with his family. The quarterback is married to model Gisele Bündchen and has three kids: his son Benjamin and daughter Vivien, who he welcomed with Bündchen in 2009 and 2012 respectively, and his eldest son Jack, born in 2007, whom he shares with his ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan.
“There’s also something to be said for family, and time with your family. He has kids. They’re getting older,” Johnson added. “I’m sure his son wants to play football or wants to play quarterback or something along those lines, and duplicate that success or try to duplicate the success that his dad had. Living that dream, you want to be there for that.”
Click here to read the full article.
But is that where Brady’s head is at right now? Keep on reading ahead to hear what the quarterback has said himself when it comes to whether or not he’s planning on retiring from the NFL any time soon.
Is Tom Brady retiring?
So, is Tom Brady retiring? For now, it seems that the thought isn’t at the top of Brady’s mind—but it’s also not entirely out of mind. Following the Buccaneer’s last-minute loss to the Rams at the NFL divisional playoff on January 23, 2022, the veteran quarterback revealed in a post-game interview that he couldn’t think so far ahead into the future at the moment.
“Truthfully guys, I’m thinking about this game,” Brady said, per ESPN. “I’m not thinking about anything past five minutes from now.” He went on to note, “I haven’t put a lot of thought into [retirement], so you know, we will just take it day by day and kind of see where we are at.”
Brady—who has one year left on his contract with the Bucs—told reporters that he wasn’t thinking of the divisional playoff game as his last. “I was thinking about winning,” he explained. “That’s kind of my mentality—always to go out there and try to win. Give my teammates the best chance to win.”
Speaking of his team’s loss, Brady admitted that it’s simply a “reality” that every athlete must deal with at one point in their career—and for Brady, this loss marks just the fourth time he’s ever lost in the divisional round during his 20-year career. “Every team is really qualified when you get to the final eight, then the final four, then the final two and it doesn’t feel good to lose any one of those games, and I have lost each of those stages,” he said. “So at the end, there is only one team that is going to be happy. It feels good to move on when you move on, and obviously when you don’t, whether it was last week or this week or next week, the week after, two weeks after that—if you are a loser in that game, it all sucks to lose in the end.”
While Brady didn’t admit to thinking about any plans for retirement after his 2022 playoffs loss, he has opened up about the subject in the past. During a July 2021 interview with SiriusXM Town Hall, the quarterback hinted that he has plans to play football until he’s at least 45 years old—but his family does weigh heavily when it comes to this decision. “Things change as you get older, and there’s a lot of different responsibilities I have in my life,” he said at the time. “My kids and my family is certainly very important, and they made a lot of sacrifice over a long period of time to watch me play. So, you know, I owe it to them, too.”
According to an NFL.com report, Brady plans to take some time after the season to get honest with his emotions and make a final decision about whether or not he plans to return to the NFL. Of course, only time will tell what that decision may be.
Best of StyleCaster