NFL legend and seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady, 44, officially retires

After 22 seasons, seven Super Bowl titles, and days of denials, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is finally calling it quits. 

‘I have always believed the sport of football is an ”all-in” proposition – if a 100% competitive commitment isn’t there, you won’t succeed, and success is what I love so much about our game,’ Brady wrote in a statement, which he posted across his social media platforms on Tuesday. 

‘There is a physical, mental, and emotional challenge EVERY single day that has allowed me to maximize my highest potential. And I have tried my very best these past 22 years. There are no shortcuts to success on the field or in life.

‘This is difficult for me to write, but here it goes: I am not going to make that competitive commitment anymore. I have loved my NFL career, and now it is time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention.’

Brady thanked his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen and his children, saying they are his ‘inspiration’ and ‘greatest achievement.’ 

Curiously absent from Brady’s farewell statement was any mention of the New England Patriots, the club he guided to six Super Bowl titles over 20 seasons before leaving for Tampa in March of 2020. 

However, Patriots owner Robert Kraft did release a statement of his own, saying it was a ‘privilege’ to watch him, and Brady responded on Twitter: ‘Thank You Patriots Nation. I’m beyond grateful. Love you all.’ 

The 44-year-old signed a one-year, $25 million contract extension after guiding the Bucs to a Super Bowl win last year. That deal included a $20 million signing bonus, $15 million of which would have been paid to him on Friday. So by retiring, Brady likely saved the Bucs $15 million, although they can choose to pay out his full signing bonus. 

Since being drafted by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, Brady has earned more than $292 million in salary over 22 seasons, according to Spotrac. And that does not include earnings from his fitness brand or his many endorsement deals with companies such as Subway and Under Armour, not to mention his recent foray into non-fungible tokens. 

Brady and the Bucs’ season came to an end in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs last month, when they were beaten in Tampa on a last-second field goal by the Los Angeles Rams. The team’s current backup is the uncelebrated 32-year-old Blaine Gabbert, so the Bucs are expected to add more potential replacements, either through free agency or in the NFL draft. 

The betting favorite to replace Brady is his former backup, current 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, according to SportsBetting.ag.  

‘Congratulations to my friend Tom on an unbelievable football career,’ friend and former rival Peyton Manning wrote in a statement. ‘To do it as long as he did, at the highest of levels is absolutely incredible. It was an honor & a privilege to compete against him on the field, and I truly appreciate his friendship off the field. 

‘I have always admired & respected his competitiveness, his dedication, his discipline, and his commitment to being the best. I wish him the best in his next chapter. Congratulations again, pal!’

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell also released a statement.  

‘Tom Brady will be remembered as one of the greatest to ever play in the NFL,’ said Goodell, who once suspended Brady for four games in 2016 for his alleged involvement in the ‘Deflategate’ scandal. 

‘An incredible competitor and leader, his stellar career is remarkable for its longevity but also for the sustained excellence he displayed year after year.

‘Tom made everyone around him better and always seemed to rise to the occasion in the biggest moments. His record five Super Bowl MVP awards and seven Super Bowl championships set a standard that players will chase for years.

‘He inspired fans in New England, Tampa and around the world with one of the greatest careers in NFL history. It has been a privilege to watch him compete and have him in the NFL. We thank him for his many contributions to our game and wish Tom and his family all the best in the future.

Brady thanked the Buccaneers organization, his teammates, ownership, general manager Jason Licht, coach Bruce Arians, his trainer and business partner Alex Guerrero, agents Don Yee and Steve Dubin and his family in his nine-page post. He didn’t mention the New England Patriots, where he spent his first 20 seasons and won six Super Bowls. Of course, Brady thanked the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick after he left the team to sign with the Buccaneers in March 2020.

‘To the Glazer family, thank you for taking a chance on me and supporting me,’ Brady said of the Bucs´ owners. ‘I know I was demanding at times, but you provided everything we needed to win, and your ownership was everything a player could ask for.’

Brady said he’s still figuring out how he’ll spend his time but he plans to be involved in his TB12 health and wellness company, Brady clothing line and NFT company.

‘Tom joined us as the greatest football player of all time, and he quickly showed everyone in our organization what that meant,’ Bucs head coach Bruce Arians said in a statement. 

‘He set a standard and helped create a culture that took our team to the mountaintop. It has been an honor to be his head coach for the past two seasons.’ 

The retirement decision appears to be a victory for Bundchen, who has expressed concerns for his safety over the years. She once enlisted Brady’s old college teammate, Jay Feely, to convince her husband to retire, the former NFL kicker told Sports Illustrated in 2018.

Bundchen has also claimed that her husband suffered unreported concussions during his tenure with the Patriots, although those accusations remain unproven, publicly.

ESPN first reported Brady’s retirement on Saturday, citing unidentified sources. Brady’s health and wellness company posted a tweet indicating he’s retiring, and reaction came from around the world congratulating Brady on his career. Even the NFL’s Twitter account posted a series of congratulatory messages.

TB12sports quickly deleted its tweet, but ESPN and NFL Network continued reporting that Brady has played his last game.

‘We’re in such an era of information and people want to be in front of the news often, and I totally understand that and understand that’s the environment we’re in,’ Brady said. ‘But I think for me, it’s literally day to day with me. I’m trying to do the best I can every day and evaluate things as they come, and I’m trying to make a great decision for me and my family.’

Brady said he was disappointed that coverage of his possible retirement overshadowed the NFL’s conference championship games over the weekend.

‘I’ll know when the time’s right,’ he said. ‘When I know, I’ll know and when I don’t know, I don’t know, and I’m not going to race to some conclusion about that.’ 

Brady walks away as the NFL’s career leader in numerous passing categories and most prolific winner. He’d also be going out 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 NFC champion Rams last Sunday in the divisional round after rallying from a 27-3 deficit to tie it in the final minute.

Brady won six Super Bowls with the Patriots playing for coach Bill Belichick, and got better with age. He led the Buccaneers to their second Super Bowl title last year in his first season in Tampa.

Overlooked by every team coming out of Michigan, Brady was eventually selected by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft. 

Brady’s legend began in his second season, when he replaced injured starter Drew Bledsoe during a game against the rival New York Jets.  The Patriots ended up losing that game, but Brady never looked back, guiding New England to an 11-4 record over the remainder of the season, winning the infamous ‘tuck rule’ game against the Oakland Raiders in the playoffs, and upsetting the heavily favored St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl.  

Brady went on to lead the Patriots to consecutive Super Bowl titles following the 2003-04 seasons. 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 February 3, 2008, that prevented the Patriots from completing a perfect season.

Brady, though, was far from finished.  

He earned his fourth ring after the 2014 season thanks to cornerback Malcolm Butler’s late interception on Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson in Super Bowl XLIX. Brady was named MVP of the game, but gave the truck he won as part of the honor to Butler.   

Two years later, in the biggest Super Bowl comeback, he led the Patriots out of a 28-3 deficit in the third quarter against Atlanta to win in overtime for No. 5. Brady got his sixth championship when New England beat the Rams following the 2018 season.

He joined the Buccaneers in 2020 amid a pandemic, instantly transforming a franchise that hadn’t won a playoff game in 18 years. His buddy Rob Gronkowski came out of retirement to join him and they helped the Buccaneers become the first team to play in a Super Bowl in its stadium.

Now it’s anyone’s guess if Gronkowski will return to Tampa next season, but he recently revealed he would decline if he were pressured to reach a final decision right now.  

Brady reached the playoffs 19 times, won 18 division titles, went 10-4 in conference championships and 7-3 in Super Bowls.

After starting his first game on September 30, 2001, Brady was under center for every game except when he suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 1 in 2008 and the first four games in 2016 when he sat out a suspension because of the deflated footballs scandal. 

The team was fined $1 million and docked a first-round draft pick for the incident. 

However, academics have insisted that the NFL failed to prove its case against Brady, who may have actually been exonerated by the league’s data. 

‘I am convinced that there was no illegal deflation of the Patriots’ footballs at the 2015 AFC Championship Game,’ MIT mechanical engineering professor and Philadelphia Eagles fan Dr. John L. Leonard wrote in for Sports Illustrated in 2016. 

Known for his work ethic, intense exercise regimen and strict diet, Brady was better with age.

After turning 37, Brady won four Super Bowls and was 17-4 in the playoffs. He was 95-30, completed 65.2 percent of his passes for 35,371 yards, 265 TDs, 69 interceptions and 100.2 passer rating in the regular season in those eight seasons.

Praise from across the sports world came pouring in after Brady finally made his retirement official. 

‘Hell of a ride my friend!!’ said LeBron James. ‘Thank you for the memories and inspiration throughout.’ 

Alex Rodriguez kept his statement short and sweet: ’22 seasons, 7 championships, 3 MVPs, countless records. True greatness.’

Although he neglected to thank the Patriots in his farewell address, team owner Robert Kraft praised his longtime quarterback in a statement of his own. 

‘Words cannot describe the feelings I have for Tom Brady, nor adequately express the gratitude my family, the New England Patriots and our fans have for Tom for all he did during his career,’ Kraft said. ‘A generation of football fans have grown up knowing only an NFL in which Tom Brady dominated. He retires with nearly every NFL career passing record, yet the only one that ever mattered to him was the team’s win-loss record. In his 20 years as a starter his teams qualified for the playoffs 19 times. 

‘He led his teams to 10 Super Bowls, winning an NFL-record seven championships. In a team sport like football, it is rare to see an individual have such a dominant impact on a team’s success. You didn’t have to be a Patriots fan to respect and appreciate his competitiveness, determination and will to win that fueled his success. As a fan of football, it was a privilege to watch. As a Patriots fan, it was a dream come true.

‘I have the greatest respect for Tom personally and always will. His humility, coupled with his drive and ambition, truly made him special. I will always feel a close bond to him and will always consider him an extension of my immediate family.’   

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson wrote ‘congrats to the Greatest,’ while Broncos executive and former Denver quarterback John Elway described Brady as a ‘true winner’ who ‘handled himself with class throughout his entire career.’