Tom Brady Says He’s Retiring, for Good This Time – The New York Times
Tom Brady, one of the world’s most decorated professional athletes and widely viewed as the greatest player in N.F.L. history, announced on Wednesday that he would retire. For good this time.
“I’ll get to the point right away,” Brady, who just completed his 23rd season, said in a short video posted on social media. “I’m retiring. For good.”
Brady, 45, exits the league as the winner of seven Super Bowls, an N.F.L. record, and atop the list for almost every major passing statistical category. He was the oldest active player in the N.F.L. this season, but still played at an elite level through the end.
Brady retired after his third season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a campaign that at one point looked as if it wouldn’t happen: Brady had also announced on Feb. 1, 2022, that he would retire, but he reversed his decision after less than six weeks and returned to play. This season was his worst as a professional — the team finished with an 8-9 record and lost in the wild-card round of the playoffs to the Dallas Cowboys. But Brady threw for 4,694 passing yards, the third most in the league, while completing 66.8 percent of his passes.
The season occurred in the backdrop of a tense period in his personal life. Brady and the supermodel Gisele Bündchen, his wife of more than 13 years, announced in October that they had divorced.
He is expected to step into a role as a TV broadcaster, after having in 2022 signed a deal with Fox Sports reportedly worth $375 million over 10 years. Brady also runs several businesses: He founded the health and wellness company TB12 Sports with his longtime trainer Alex Guerrero; Religion of Sports, a media company; and the Brady Brand clothing line.
Brady joined the Buccaneers in 2020, leading Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl victory in his first year with the team. To do so, he left the New England Patriots, the franchise for which he had played his entire career to that point. After spending two decades in New England, where he won six world championships, Brady did not come to new contract terms and the team let him leave as an unrestricted free agent.
The Patriots drafted Brady in the sixth round of the 2000 N.F.L. Draft. He won the starting quarterback job midway through his second season in 2001, replacing the injured Drew Bledsoe, and led New England that season to its first Super Bowl victory. Brady was linked to Coach Bill Belichick throughout his career in New England as the two shaped one of the league’s marquee dynasties. Along with winning six Super …….
