Tom Brady sounded reflective and nostalgic as he closed out his comments at the podium Monday night after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys, leading many to believe the game was the final act for the widely considered greatest NFL player of all time.
“I love this organization, it’s a great place to be, and thank you everybody for welcoming me, all you regulars, and I’m just very grateful for the respect and I hope I gave the same thing back to you guys. Thank you very much, appreciate it,” Brady said to reporters after his team was knocked out of the playoffs.
BUCCANEERS WIDE RECEIVER STRETCHERED OFF FIELD AFTER SUFFERING SCARY HIT TO NECK
The sentimental tone that Brady struck comes amid a time of uncertainty for the seven-time Super Bowl champion. At the age of 45 and with 23 seasons under his belt, he still has options. The Buccaneers would likely be thrilled to welcome him back, other teams have been rumored to want his signature, and a cushy analyst position at Fox Sports is waiting for him upon his retirement. Or perhaps what Brady desires most is a break from the game that has dominated his life for over two decades.
Just like last year, when he announced his retirement and then reneged on that decision, only time will tell.
Looming large over the quarterback’s decision, who won his seventh Super Bowl ring not two years ago, is his personal life, especially after Brady and his then-wife Gisele Bundchen announced their divorce this past October. With the strife in their marriage heavily publicized, Brady’s commitment to the game was seen as a commitment away from his wife and their children. Would he now walk away from football when, if reports of the reason for the marital friction were true and the divorce was not Brady’s desire, it is seemingly too late to salvage his marriage?
Brady has not just been a superb NFL performer, a clutch savant, and a durable star, he has been a “terminator” of sorts, never staying down. His late-game comebacks have never allowed fans to take their eyes off the television, for when Brady was playing, his team was never out of a game.
Love him, hate him, fear him, nearly all NFL fans have respected Brady for what he has contributed to the sport and its larger implications on life. As time goes on and the world waits on his next steps, Brady’s parting words to a group of NFL reporters remind everyone just where this respect has come from.
