Yesterday marked the end of an era for multiple generations of football fans (again).
Tom Brady, the greater quarterback to ever play this game in any era, announced that he was retiring from the NFL (again) after 23 season.
Granted, he made the same announcement around this time last year, only to come out of retirement in less than two months. However, this time is supposedly different. This time, Brady himself made the announcement via social media. There was nothing leaked, teased, or polished for a press release. He just said he was retiring in his own words.
Whether retirement will stick this time remains to be seen. Seeing this announcement, I genuinely believe he’s sincere. Brady had a rough season in 2022. Age, it seems, has finally caught up with him. And unlike last time, he already has a job waiting for him as an analyst that promises to pay him millions for years to come. That would imply that this time, it’s for real. He’s going to stay retired.
However, we’ve seen this sort of thing happen before. Brett Favre famously retired multiple times and came back multiple times. He believed he could still play at a high level and take his team to a Super Bowl. Will Brady pull the same stunt? I don’t know. I just know that once the 2023 season draws near, those competitive juices that every great athlete has are going to fester. Will Brady be able to resist the call? Will he be able to walk away after doing this for 23 seasons?
Only time will tell. We probably won’t know for sure until kickoff of the new season later this years.
In the meantime, I’ll just take a moment to thank Tom Brady for everything he’s done for the NFL and the sport. Unless you follow the NFL closely, it’s impossible to overstate just how dominant Brady has been in this most competitive of sports. Some have compared him to Michael Jordan. I honestly think Brady has exceeded Michael Jordan. He has more championship, greater longevity, and more records that will likely never be broken.
If you just run down every meaningful stat for a quarterback, Tom Brady is number one in pretty much every category. He has seven Super Bowl rings, nearly double that of his idol, Joe Montana. He’s thrown for more yards than Brett Favre. He’s thrown more completions than any quarterback to ever play at this level. And his records in the playoffs are almost too numerous for me to list.
Love him or hate him, Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time. He has set records that will likely never be broken. I was still in grade school when Brady was a rookie. He’s been a starting QB in the NFL for the entirety of my adult life. The NFL will be very different without him.
But his time has come. Even the greatest must eventually retire and Tom Brady has more than earned it. So once again, thank you Tom Brady. Thank you for everything you did for the NFL and the sport.
Now please, go enjoy your retirement.
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