Tom Brady announces he’s retiring from the NFL ‘for good’
Posted February 1, 2023 8:31 am.
Last Updated February 1, 2023 9:22 am.
After 23 seasons, Tom Brady, widely considered the greatest quarterback of all time, is hanging up his cleats — for good, this time.
Brady announced his retirement on Wednesday, saying in a video posted to social media that he wanted to let the world know immediately.
“You only get one super long retirement essay, and I used mine up last year,” Brady said. “Really, thank you all, guys, so much. Every single one of you for supporting me. My family, my friends, my teammates, and my competitors. I could go on forever, there are too many.”
Brady said he lived his dream and wouldn’t change a thing.
“I love you all.”
Truly grateful on this day. Thank you ????????❤️ pic.twitter.com/j2s2sezvSS
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) February 1, 2023
Brady initially announced his retirement one year ago today but changed his mind, and on March 13, 2022, Brady announced he would return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady and the Bucs finished with an 8-9 record but made the playoffs. They were eliminated by the Dallas Cowboys.
The loss marked the first time since 2013 that Brady was defeated in the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
Is Brady the GOAT?
Famously underrated coming into the NFL — he was picked 199th in the 2000 draft by the Patriots, behind six other quarterbacks, three kickers and a punter — Brady certainly wasn’t expected to become synonymous with greatness. He played in one game as a rookie, completing one of three passes for six yards.
The next year, it all changed.
Brady took over as the Patriots’ starter, the team beat the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl that capped the 2001 season, and he and New England coach Bill Belichick were well on their way to becoming the most successful coach-QB duo in football history.
More Super Bowl wins came after the 2003 and 2004 seasons. The Patriots returned to football’s mountaintop for a fourth time in Brady’s era a decade later to cap the 2014 season, the start of three more titles in a span of five years.
In 2020, he joined the Buccaneers and won his seventh Super Bowl. He spent his last three years with Tampa Bay, getting them to the playoffs in each of those seasons.
The 45-year-old leaves the game of football as the undisputed most successful quarterback of all time, winning seven Super Bowls (six with New England and one with the Bucs), five Super Bowl MVP awards and three NFL MVP awards. Brady also holds nearly every major quarterback record, including most career passing yards, completions, touchdown passes, and games started.
He is the oldest NFL MVP at age 40 and the oldest Super Bowl MVP at age 43.
In Oct. 2022, Brady and his long-time wife, Gisele Bündchen, finalized a divorce, ending a 13-year marriage. Brady posted a statement to Instagram confirming the couple’s decision.
“In recent days, my wife and I finalized our divorce from one another after 13 years of marriage,” he wrote. “We arrived at this decision amicably and with gratitude, for the time we spent together.”
Brady and Bündchen’s marriage was the subject of tabloid rumours and speculation seven months after Brady came out of retirement. Bündchen had voiced her concern about the violent nature of football on Brady’s long-term health.
With files from The Associated Press
