Tom Brady, considered by many to be the greatest football player of all time, is calling it a day and retiring. Again.
“I’m retiring – for good,” Brady said in a video which he uploaded to Twitter and Instagram. “I know the process was a pretty big deal last time, so when I woke up this morning I figured I’d just press record and let you guys know first. It won’t be long-winded. You only get one super emotional retirement essay and I used mine up last year. Thank you to every single one of you for supporting me – my family, my friends, my team-mates, my competitors. I could go on forever – there’s too many. Thank you for allowing me to live my absolute dream, I wouldn’t change a thing. Love you all.”
Brady is done with football after a total 23 seasons in the NFL, the final three with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played his first 20 seasons for the New England Patriots, winning six Super Bowl titles under coach Bill Belichick. (Men’s Health caught up with the quarterback ahead of his final season with the Patriots in 2019 for an extensive cover interview.)
Of course, this is the second time that Brady has made this particular announcement. On February 1, 2022, a year ago to the day, he took to Instagram to tell his fans he was retiring. “I have always believed the sport of football is an ‘all-in’ proposition – if a 100% commitment isn’t there, you won’t succeed, and success is what I love so much about our game,” he wrote at the time. “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.”
The quarterback had been rumored to be mulling an end to his playing days after his Tampa Bay Buccaneers were eliminated from the NFL playoffs. ESPN NFL reporter Adam Schefter was the first to break the news on Twitter before other outlets reported on his claims.
After the story was widely disseminated across the internet, with nearly every sports-adjacent outlet citing Schefter’s news and sharing tributes to the NFL’s GOAT, Brady’s team reportedly denied the claim. The player’s agent, Don Yee, told NFL Network‘s Tom Pelissero in a statement that “Tom will be the only person to express his plans with complete accuracy.”
Then, Brady made it official.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback led the NFL in nearly every major passing category in the 2021 season at age 44, in his 22nd year in the league. Brady and the Buccaneers were prevented from defending their Super Bowl title in 2021 when they were eliminated by the Los Angeles Rams on a dramatic last-minute field goal after Brady had led a comeback effort late in the game, just as he had so many times before in his career.
Over the weekend when the news first broke, former teammates like Julian Edelman and Mike Evans, competitors like Patrick Mahomes, and others associated with the all-time great QB also paid their respects on social media. Notably, Edelman later posted a followup response after Brady’s camp denied the reports: “Can’t a guy thank another guy for the memories without everyone thinking he’s retiring!?”
Brady then walked back that decision in March 2022, announcing that he would be “un-retiring” and rejoining the Bucs for another season. “These past two months I have realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands,” he said. “That time will come. But it’s not now.”
The QB has since discussed his thoughts on re-retiring a number of times, saying: “I think next time I decide to retire, that’s it for me… So whenever that day comes, we’ll figure it out.”
It seems like that time has finally come.
Brett Williams, a fitness editor at Men’s Health, is a NASM-CPT certified trainer and former pro football player and tech reporter who splits his workout time between strength and conditioning training, martial arts, and running. You can find his work elsewhere at Mashable, Thrillist, and other outlets.
Philip Ellis is a freelance writer and journalist from the United Kingdom covering pop culture, relationships and LGBTQ+ issues. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller and MTV.
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