Tom Brady Avoids Retirement Talk In Emotional Message To His Team
All eyes were on Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they took the field against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, January 23. While many folks in Tampa were hopeful that the team could pull off a win because they wanted to see their team get one step closer to a back-to-back Super Bowl appearance, others around the country had different questions on their minds. One, in particular, was could this be Brady's very last game in the NFL?
Even before Sunday's kickoff, there was chatter about Brady hanging up his helmet. In a post for NFL.com, sports commentator Ian Rapoport shared some insight on Brady's future in the league. Rapoport pointed out that Brady had not publicly made a decision about playing another season. "Often, by this point in the season, Brady has said definitively that he'll be back. That has not yet happened," Rapoport wrote. Moreover, a source close to the quarterback told Rapoport that Brady could retire after the 2021-2022 season.
Brady has been fairly quiet when it comes to his future. And while he admitted to the NBC crew that he wanted to "end on a Super Bowl," he also said that he thinks he'll "know when [he knows]" and that "there's a lot that's inconclusive" (via Twitter). After leading the Bucs to an incredible comeback in the fourth quarter, the Rams were able to score with just seconds left on the clock. As the sports world waits for an announcement of some kind, Brady just isn't there yet.
Tom Brady thanked his team for a great season
On January 25, Tom Brady took to Instagram to share an emotional message to his teammates, and managed to avoid anything definitive about his future plans. "I understand that at this stage in my career, there is going to be interest in my future whenever a season ends, but this week, all that is on my mind is the gratitude I have for this team and the fans that have supported us all year long," Brady captioned his post. He added that the season was "incredibly rewarding personally and professionally." Brady went on to admit that while he "always [wants] to win," he doesn't "equate losing to failure." He gave his Tampa Bay Buccaneer teammates a lot of credit for "[believing] in each other" and he promised to "never" take "that feeling" for granted.
As for what Brady's future plans are, it seems as though he may not even know. During the January 25 episode of his Let's Go podcast, Brady revealed that he is going to take some time to figure things out with the help of his family. "I said this a few years ago, it's what relationships are all about. It's not always what I want. It's what we want as a family, and I'm gonna spend a lot of time with them and figure out, in the future, what's next," he said.