“I’ve all the time believed the game of soccer is an ‘all-in’ proposition — if a 100% aggressive dedication is not there, you will not succeed,” he wrote on his social media accounts.
However, Brady stated, he’ll not be making that dedication. “I’ve beloved my NFL profession, and now it’s time to focus my time and vitality on different issues that require my consideration.”
His resolution brings an finish to a 22-year profession for the quarterback extensively celebrated because the “GOAT” — the best of all time. A hero to legions of followers throughout New England, the place he spent 20 seasons with the Patriots earlier than signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, Brady’s crew was all the time a secure wager to win.
The announcement follows preliminary stories over the weekend, first from ESPN, that Brady was retiring, adopted by congratulatory tweets from Brady’s firm and the NFL. Brady’s agent, nevertheless, wouldn’t verify the information, resulting in confusion over his plans that continued to swirl till his precise announcement on Tuesday.
However his retirement was not sudden: At 44, Brady was the oldest present participant within the NFL this previous season. He is cited a want to spend extra time along with his spouse, Gisele Bündchen, and his three kids.
In his announcement, Brady stated his plans for the longer term are a “work-in-progress,” however famous he would proceed to work with corporations he co-founded, together with the NFT platform Autograph, clothes firm Brady Model and the health and well being firm TB12 Sports activities.
Brady’s profession was a listing of data: most Tremendous Bowl appearances (10), most Tremendous Bowl wins (7), most landing passes in league historical past (624), most passing yards (84,520), most playoff wins (35), most common season wins (243) — the listing goes on.
His accomplishments got here even if his NFL prospects did not appear significantly robust popping out of his faculty soccer profession on the College of Michigan. Brady was picked within the sixth spherical of the 2000 NFL draft after 198 gamers have been chosen earlier than him.
However in New England Brady would join with coach Invoice Belichick. And when Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe was injured in Week 2 of the 2001 season, Brady changed him as starter and would find yourself taking the Patriots to the primary of his six Tremendous Bowl wins with the crew. With Brady on the helm, the Patriots gained once more within the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
Although it might be one other decade earlier than the crew reached one other Tremendous Bowl win, Brady recurrently led the Patriots to the playoffs, solely lacking them within the 2002 season and within the 2008 season when he tore his ACL. Between 2011 and 2018, Brady led the Patriots to eight straight convention championship video games. They gained Tremendous Bowls within the 2014, 2016 and 2018 seasons.
“We have been type of Loserville” in New England earlier than Brady arrived, stated Dan Shaughnessy, a Boston Globe sports activities columnist who coated Brady for twenty years. Brady and the Patriots “took the league by storm and we lastly had a champion right here. And that sort of ushered within the excessive renaissance of New England sports activities.”
Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft stated on Tuesday that phrases couldn’t “adequately categorical the gratitude my household, the New England Patriots and our followers have for Tom for all he did throughout his profession. A technology of soccer followers have grown up realizing solely an NFL during which Tom Brady dominated.”
Leaving New England
In March 2020, Brady introduced that he would not re-sign with the Patriots. Three days later, he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
With Brady below heart, the Bucs secured their second Tremendous Bowl victory in franchise historical past in February 2021, the place he set a brand new file at age 43 because the oldest participant to play in a Tremendous Bowl. He was named Tremendous Bowl MVP for the fifth time in his profession.
His closing sport got here on Jan. 23 in a divisional playoff matchup in opposition to the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams began the sport out robust, taking a 27-3 lead. The Buccaneers slowly chipped away, tying the sport 27-27 with lower than a minute to play. For a second, it appeared Brady was on path to win his forty third fourth quarter comeback, however Los Angeles kicked a area objective to win the sport as time expired.
In his announcement, Brady thanked the Bucs’ homeowners, coaches, employees, gamers and followers, in addition to gamers and coaches from earlier in his profession.
“The competitors was fierce and deep, JUST HOW WE LIKE IT. However the friendships and relationships are simply as fierce and deep. I’ll keep in mind and cherish these recollections and re-visit them usually. I really feel just like the luckiest particular person on the earth,” he wrote.
The household of Malcolm Glazer, who bought the Bucs in 1995, stated they might “proceed to have a good time his legendary profession as the best quarterback of all time and are appreciative and grateful for the time he spent as a Buccaneer.”
As Brady leaves the sport, a brand new technology of up-and-coming quarterbacks — comparable to 26-year-old Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and 25-year-old Josh Allen of the Buffalo Payments — are poised to battle for the mantle of greatest quarterback within the NFL.
However as followers and foes alike are absolutely conscious, a lot of Brady’s achievements are more likely to stand unbested ceaselessly.