Tom Brady is retiring. This time “forever”. The greatest player in American football history says goodbye just a year after first announcing his retirement, only to back down in six weeks. The National Football League (NFL) legend, the mythical quarterback who has won the Super Bowl seven times and played it three more, is hanging up his boots after 23 seasons in the elite, he announced in a message on Twitter he you have become one of the best athletes in the world.
“Good morning guys. I’ll get straight to the point. I’m retiring. Forever. I know the process was a big issue last time, so when I woke up this morning I thought I’d hit the record button and tell you first of that so I won’t go on for too long you can just give a very emotional resignation speech and I sold out mine last year so thank you to every single one of you who supported me, my family, my friends, my teammates, my competitors supports … I could go forever, there are too many. Thank you for letting me live my dream. I wouldn’t change anything. I love you all,” he said in a short message published on social networks.
Not only is Brady the player who has played and won the most Super Bowls, but he also has all sorts of personal records. At 45, he was the oldest player in a professional league to undergo a generational change. The four quarterbacks in this year’s Conference Finals, including the two playing in the Super Bowl on February 12, are in their 20s.
The quarterback is the key position on an American football team. He is the one who distributes the game, the one who gives the crucial passes, the protagonist of the attack. Brady excelled not so much in his physical abilities as in his unparalleled reading of American football. He knew how to make the right decision at all times, whether to risk a long pass, forego a running back, or take over the team’s advance himself. And his precision when sending the ball to his teammates was to the millimeter.
Although he maintained a high level until his retirement, this was the season in which he has had the worst results. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished with eight wins and nine losses and were unable to re-enter the playoffs due to being eliminated in the playoffs or by a wildcard by the Dallas Cowboys. Though it was his worst year, he finished the league with a 66.8% pass success rate to advance 4,694 yards, the third-best record of the year in the entire NFL, and a success rate above his historical average (64.3 %).
Brady goes with the NFL record for number of passes attempted (12,050), passes completed (7,753), yards advanced on passes (89,214), and touchdown passes (649), among others. He is the only player to have won more than five Super Bowls and has been named Player of the Game five times. Nobody has won as many games as he has, either in the regular season (250) or in the playoffs. He’s also one of the few to amass a 99-yard touchdown pass, the highest possible going all the way across the field in one go. He has several awards, recognitions and awards. Nobody shadows his record.
The great star of American football history was underrated in its early days. After playing at the University of Michigan, he was selected by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of their 199th overall draft of 2000, behind six other quarterbacks, and barely played in his freshman year with the team. He only participated in one game, giving three short passes to go six yards. Nothing to remember.
The following year, however, Brady became the Patriots’ starter and everything changed. An inspired Brady showed his talent on his first real opportunity. The team defeated the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl that ended the 2001 season. It was the team’s first time being crowned champions and Brady’s first major success, paving the way for many more to come. With Bill Belichick as their coach, the duo led the Patriots to the Super Bowl in 2003 and 2004, and then in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
The most controversial moment of his career was known as Deflagate. The NFL suspended the player for five games because he knew his team had easily deflated the ball to take the lead in the 2015 Conference Finals.
After 20 seasons with the Massachusetts team, he signed for Tampa Bay in 2020. In all three seasons, he managed to get his team into the playoffs, something the Buccaneers hadn’t managed since 2007. Two years ago they won their last Super Bowl, beating new records and also becoming the only player to win it in three different decades.
His retirement comes after a difficult year on the personal front. The greatest American football player in history, Tom Brady, and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen announced their divorce last October after 13 years of marriage. So the seemingly perfect couple of rich, famous, handsome and successful broke up with two children together.
Estimates of Brady’s net worth are around $250 million, although it could be higher given the amount of sports and advertising revenue he has earned throughout his career. The contract he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (owned by the Glazer family, also owners of Manchester United) in March 2020 saw him earn $50 million, with up to $4.5 million in incentives per year. Aside from the publicity, Forbes estimates that he made more than $80 million in the last year alone, making him the ninth-highest paid athlete. On May 10, Fox Sports announced that he would be joining the network as a senior commentator after retiring as a player, and figures were processed that put Brady at $375 million over 10 years, making Brady the highest-paid sports commentator in history. Another record.
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