Tom Brady’s retirement did not last long. The whole retirement seemed off from the start with the original announcement coming from NFL reporter Adam Schefter and then Brady officially announced his retirement days later himself on his Instagram. The retirement as a whole lasted a grand total of just 40 days, making it one of the shortest retirements in recent time.
Everyone has their reasons to retire: they want to spend more time with their family, they want to enjoy life outside of sports while they are still relatively young, they aren’t healthy enough to play, or they just can’t win or compete at a high level anymore in the sport. For Brady, the reason could have been any of the first options, but not because he wasn’t healthy, couldn’t win or couldn’t compete at a high level anymore.
Brady finished second in MVP voting this year behind just Aaron Rodgers. So it is not like he can’t play the sport at a high level anymore. He finished the regular season this year first in the NFL in both passing yards and touchdowns. Even at age 44, Brady is still one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
It’s not like Brady is playing while stuck on a bad team either. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are almost a guaranteed lock to win their division with New Orleans really being the only other team that would potentially challenge them if they can find a consistent quarterback. This season, the Buccaneers fell just three points short against the eventual Super Bowl Champion Los Angeles Rams to get to the NFC Championship game. This came after Brady won a Super Bowl with them in 2021.
This Tampa Bay team will likely return to the playoffs next year with Brady and essentially the rest of their offense back for next year. The Buccaneers wide receivers re-signed Chris Godwin to a large deal, have Mike Evans, and signed Russell Gage to a free agency deal as well. Rob Gronkowski could be on his way back to Tampa too.
Brady obviously thought he has more to offer the league and knows he can still compete and help this team win a Super Bowl in 2023.
