Tom Brady Announces Retirement After 23 Seasons
NFL Super Bowl - Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady has announced he is retiring "for good," he announced with a video to social media.
Truly grateful on this day. Thank you 🙏🏻❤️ pic.twitter.com/j2s2sezvSS
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) February 1, 2023
Brady's announcement comes one year to the day after his first retirement. ESPN's Jeff Darlington reported that Brady's decision came down to either returning to the Buccaneers or retiring.
After a 23-year career, Brady walks away with seven Super Bowl rings, more than any individual NFL franchise. He also walks away with five Super Bowl MVPs and three MVPs. In addition, Brady retires the all-time leader with 89,214 career passing yards and 649 career passing touchdowns. Brady finished in the top eight of passing DVOA 16 times over the course of his career. He also holds two of the top five best seasons among quarterbacks by DVOA and holds the highest single-season DYAR ever among quarterbacks.
Comments
58 comments, Last at 05 Feb 2023, 11:36am
#2 by johonny12 // Feb 01, 2023 - 9:22am
He's single, 45, a zillionaire, and has Gronk's phone number on speed dial. I think he'll be okay.
He was good doing his radio Monday night gig. There's no doubt he's walking into a studio or booth if he wants it. Of course, he could probably also walk into one of the 1000000 OC jobs currently available.
#3 by NoraDaddy // Feb 01, 2023 - 9:36am
His future Fox gig has been in place for almost a year:
#55 by lenny65 // Feb 03, 2023 - 7:57pm
People hesitate to say it, and I kind of understand why, but Brady is easily one of the greatest American pro athletes of all time, and he deserves to be mentioned with names like Ali, Jordan, Ruth and etc. He has a strong case for being tagged as the greatest NFL player of all time.
#6 by Will Allen // Feb 01, 2023 - 10:01am
For all the plaudits he receives from the "QB WINZZZ!!!!" crowd, my favorite performance of his will always be in a game the Patriots lost, against Denver in the conference championship. A historically great defense stomped and bludgeoned him from the 1st possession on, and then, in the 4th quarter, with his team losing, he nearly dragged it across the finish line. It was astonishing.
#12 by Mash Wilson // Feb 01, 2023 - 11:10am
I could not agree more and have been saying the same thing for years. It was Brady's greatest performance. Before that day I honestly did not think he had it in him. The Broncos beat the piss out of him, practically every play, and he just would not quit. During the final few minutes I kept thinking of the quote from Apollo's trainer in Rocky II: "I watched you beat that man, like I ain't never seen no man get beat before, and the man... kept... coming... after you."
#14 by Will Allen // Feb 01, 2023 - 11:32am
Look at what they did to him for 3 hours, in the cold, on the road, historically great defense, especially the sack by Miller at the 1 minute mark.....
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hFFZws3Apbo
....then look at this f*ckin' throw he makes in the closing minutes, with everything on the line...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3w9jKneVrho
I still can't believe it.
#42 by BJR // Feb 02, 2023 - 12:52am
As I mention below, I recently rewatched the 2003 AFC Championship Game, and came away with a similar impression of Manning’s performance.
He threw 4 interceptions that day, but would not lie down and kept on swinging. Some of the throws he was making late in the game, down multiple scores, in miserable conditions, against a great defense, were sublime. And yes, the game was played with a physicality on defense from a bygone era.
#8 by theslothook // Feb 01, 2023 - 10:37am
I'll believe Tom Brady has retired when he's officially cashing his social security checks.
As an aside, in light of his decision to retire this year, it makes his decision to unretire last year all the more tragic since it came at the expense of his marriage. I know i shouldnt feel bad for the guy who has everything, but I do.
I don't know how he feels about this, but I wouldn't hesitate to trade away several super Bowl rings to have my marriage back; let alone one truly forgettable season such as this one.
#10 by dmb // Feb 01, 2023 - 10:49am
Your "aside" is why I do actually believe he's walking away for good: I think this season has been the first time he's likely felt that the cost of playing the game wasn't "worth it." If this season had been more rewarding, I'd share your skepticism.
#15 by Pat // Feb 01, 2023 - 11:47am
There's also another reason to believe the game's no longer worth it, in a more direct sense: I'm not sure there's many teams out there that'd be willing to through $35M+ at him for a single year. To clarify, Brady started out signing a 2-year, $50M contract and then got an additional year tacked on for ~$35M. So he'd obviously want probably $40M for that last year.
Really the 49ers are the most obvious choice - it'd actually be a hard sell for the Dolphins, I think - and so, if the 49ers weren't interested, I wonder if he wasn't getting the kind of interest he did previously.
#29 by Jay Z // Feb 01, 2023 - 4:12pm
I think the marriage was probably crapped out and it didn't matter. I have seen guys go the other way and drop everything to save the marriage and it doesn't work. Athletes even.
If a woman can't stomach a marriage to Tom Freakin' Brady I don't see him retiring making any difference.
#30 by theslothook // Feb 01, 2023 - 4:23pm
We are all left to speculate, but I can understand where Giselle or any woman would have a real issue with her husband playing football.
By nature of being a professional athlete and a megastar, Tom Brady's personal time; especially family time; is extremely limited. Peyton Manning spoke about how clueless he was being a normal adult. He didn't even know how to sign up for the gym at age 40. All because he just never had the time to learn how to be a basic adult. Imagine how much time that leaves for family; especially small children.
Now you are Giselle. Your husband has more money than he could ever need and even if he gambled it all down the drain, your earnings provide more than the two of you would ever need. He has more fame than he could ever need. His 7th Sb answered whatever questions remained about his legacy. He has had, by far, the most illustrious career imaginable. There was simply nothing left to prove. On top of that, he plays a sport that could literally kill him or leave him permanently maimed for the rest of his life. I am sure Giselle has met plenty of other players who can't walk properly or even remember childhood memories because of repeated violence. So; not only is he basically indugling in a hobby at the expense of his family; hes endangering his health.
Of course, Brady loves football. Its not so much a hobby for him but a lifestyle that he's been attached and committed to forever. Naturally, breaking away from it is painful. She knew when she married him who he was and what he did.
In short, I can sympathize with both Tom and Giselle's point of views and I can completely understand how this decision can cause an irrevocable rift in the marriage.
#21 by Lost Ti-Cats Fan // Feb 01, 2023 - 12:28pm
Tying the fate of his marriage to his sports-related decisions is the sort of thing the sports media does, because (a) it's sports-centric and (b) notoriously simple-minded. But the reality is we have no idea what his marriage was like or what the pressure points were inside it. Very few marriages break up over career decisions. It seems far more likely to me that he came back to play football last year because his marriage was breaking up and he wanted some consistency in his life during a time of turmoil.
#23 by theslothook // Feb 01, 2023 - 12:43pm
https://en.as.com/latest_news/why-are-tom-brady-and-gisele-bundchen-getting-divorced-n/
If you can believe me, I don't follow the tmz or tabloids or gossip reporting whatsoever. Because football is at the top of my browse list - I kept getting updates on Tom Brady's marriage; including from my wife who otherwise has less than 0 interest in football.
#28 by BigRichie // Feb 01, 2023 - 4:08pm
Only thing we do know - because he did exactly that - was that Tom lied like hell about his family supporting his decision to unretire. Because they sure the hell didn't.
Other than that, yeah, we know not a thing about his former marriage. (other than that male uber-celebrities generally dump their wives, even actress and super-model wives, for younger women; the base-level reality, if you will)
#49 by Eddo // Feb 02, 2023 - 12:03pm
Perhaps there has been some reporting I haven't seen, but I don't think we know that. Their marriage could have been breaking up, but they do still care for one another, so his family did support him still doing what he loves. Plenty of people remain supportive and friendly with their exes, even if they weren't compatible as a partnership any more.
#58 by Hoodie_Sleeves // Feb 05, 2023 - 11:36am
She literally gave him a public ultimatum that he choose spending time with her and the kids, or continuing to play football and she leaves.
I think we can say we know that she didn't support him continuing to play.
#37 by LionInAZ // Feb 01, 2023 - 11:17pm
What we do know, however, is that athletes are very egocentric and that their ego-driven decisions affect their families for better or worse. Not all of the spouses have the wealth of Gisele Bundschen to lay down a line.
#57 by Hoodie_Sleeves // Feb 05, 2023 - 11:19am
Tying the fate of his marriage to his sports-related decisions is the sort of thing the sports media does
Sure, but Giselle hasn't exactly been quiet about this. She was making comments about wanting him to retire a couple years ago, and about not spending enough time raising his kids, etc, and sounded surly at that point.
Given Brady's personality, and the fact that he's basically a Football Excellence Robot - none of this should surprise people. The guy's entire identity has been football.
#26 by MJK // Feb 01, 2023 - 3:21pm
My favorite Brady game will always be SB XXXVI. You never forget your first! (First SB win for your chosen team, that is). When he goes out there with less than 2 minutes in a tie game, and conventional wisdom screams to have your 6th round backup QB play it safe and play for overtime, and you have Bledsoe advising him on the sideline to forget about all that and "just f****ng sling it!", and Belichick rolls the dice and let's him play for the win, and then Madden repeatedly exclaiming "I don't agree with this! I don't agree with this!" as despite all that, Brady moves them down the field and they win their first every franchise SB.
Probably my favorite moment as a Pats fan.
(28-3 was probably my second favorite. Holding the Colts to 3 points in the playoffs when they were starting Earthwind Moreland and Troy Brown at CB is probably my third favorite).
#27 by theslothook // Feb 01, 2023 - 4:06pm
(28-3 was probably my second favorite. Holding the Colts to 3 points in the playoffs when they were starting Earthwind Moreland and Troy Brown at CB is probably my third favorite).
Why, OH WHY, do you have to call out this game? It was one of the most gutting losses I've ever experienced as a fan. It was a team wide meltdown of such brazen proportions. A record setting offense completely neutered by a team basically playing street free agents at corner. Belichick wizardry at its finest.
#41 by BJR // Feb 02, 2023 - 12:43am
I recently re-watched those games (not in their entirety, only extended highlights, so my impressions could be wrong.)
The ‘03 championship game, Manning made a bunch of mistakes, but kept on swinging. He made some great throws late into the game, in bad conditions, against a great defense.
‘04 was just a total meltdown, as you say.
Both games were played with a physicality on defense that you just don’t see anymore. A bygone era. The fact Brady was already well into his career by then, and has only just retired, is insane.
#48 by theslothook // Feb 02, 2023 - 11:34am
So, I'll argue that Polian's point was correct but it led to an overcorrection. I thought the receivers were legitimately mugged that game (It didn't help that the Colts receiver is were finesse so they really couldn't handle the mugging). Iirc, they rode Harrison a good 15 yards down the field.
That led to any amount of touching being incredibly ticky tack which unfortunately has carried to this day.
#50 by MJK // Feb 02, 2023 - 12:17pm
Fair enough. My main problem at the time was that they tightened the rules on defensive contact and holding, without a corresponding emphasis on offensive holding (or, at least for a few years, on pick plays), which led to an explosion of offense that unbalanced the game.
And also, of course, that it didn't become an issue worth correcting until a powerful member of the competition committee saw his team lose because of it.
#51 by BJR // Feb 02, 2023 - 2:20pm
Hard for me to judge as I wasn’t an experienced NFL viewer at the time. One thing I will say is there was plenty of griping from the Colts during the game, so it wasn’t some after-the-fact excuse making thing. And at the time there had been a succession of great defensive teams win championships, so there might have been an overall appetite from the league to ‘balance’ things out regardless.
Focussing just on the ‘03 game: Brady started with a couple of very slick drives, but later made a couple of bad errors that in different circumstances might have cost his team. It was microcosm of both their careers at that point; Brady having the defense/coaching to cover for his shortcomings. Of course when all was said and done they’d both experienced their share of good/bad fortune with team strength and playoff luck.
#40 by BJR // Feb 02, 2023 - 12:34am
Maybe that absurd competitive fire extinguished over the course of this season, playing on a mediocre team whilst his marriage disintegrated.
Maybe a couple calls went out to QB needy teams over the past two weeks and the response was lukewarm. For all his competitiveness and underdog back story, I imagine him struggling to come to terms with not being “the man” anymore.
Whatever, I wish him all the best for the future and look forward to hearing him in the commentary booth. I’ve seen some interesting/entertaining snippets from him in the past 3 years since he left the New England no-fun blanket, so I have decent expectations for him in that regard.
#52 by KnotMe // Feb 02, 2023 - 2:31pm
Brady was third in DYAR and 8th in DVOA so, if he wanted to play, It's pretty likely he could find a place. It's not like he turned into Matt Ryan or Big Ben's final year or anything.
I think he legitimately wants to retire now. The question is, will he still want that after a couple of weeks of being bored?