The GOAT of NFL quarterbacks says he hasn’t made up his mind to retire just yet.
Tom Brady says he hasn’t decided whether he’s retiring at age 44 after 22 seasons and seven Super Bowl rings, despite what ESPN reported on January 29.
Brady, on his SiriusXM show “Let’s Go” with co-host Jim Gray, disputed Saturday’s widely-shared ESPN report that he was about to retire.
The Buccaneers quarterback said on the show last week he wasn’t sure if he was retiring or not. Gray asked if anything had changed, in light of multiple reports of his rumored retirement.
“No, it was a good week for me and I’m still going through the process that I said I was going through,” Brady said.
“Sometimes it takes some time to really evaluate how you feel, what you want to do. I think when the time’s right, I’ll be ready to make a decision one way or another just like I said last week.”
“It’s a good line that I’m responsible for what I say and do, and not responsible for what others say or do,” Brady said. “So, again I think one thing I’ve learned about sports is you control what you can control. What you can’t, you leave to others.”
“We’re in such an era of information and people want to be in front of the news often, and I totally understand that. I understand that’s the environment we’re in.
“I think for me it’s literally day-to-day with me,” he said. “Trying to do the best I can every day, and evaluate things as they come. And, trying to make a great decision for me and my family.”
Brady would finish his career with seven Super Bowl championships, three MVPs and five Super Bowl MVPs. The future Hall of Famer won six of those rings across 20 seasons with the Patriots before winning another last year with the Buccaneers after leaving New England in free agency.
More from ESPN.com‘s original report:
Sources said that Brady’s decision to retire is based on several factors, including family and health. Although it’s less significant, Brady also recognizes that the Buccaneers are likely to undergo significant roster turnover, sources said.
Brady, 44, has been adamant for weeks that he never wanted a “farewell season,” and many who know him believed he desired a decision made without much drama leading up to it. He will shift his focus to new endeavors and believes this is the right moment to end his playing career, sources said.
It is unknown when Brady will formalize his plans to retire, but that move will be made with consideration to not upstage the NFL’s postseason games or Super Bowl. Brady’s company, TB12 Sports, sent a tweet that appeared to confirm his decision but later deleted the post.
The New York Post reported that Brady’s team initially shot down reports of his retirement and suggested it may have been more of a timing issue, in which Team Brady wanted to wait until after Sunday’s Conference Championship games to make the long-rumored announcement.
According to Spotrac, $15 million of Brady’s $20 million Bucs signing bonus was deferred to Feb. 4, 2022, so he may be waiting to collect that money.
More from The Post, which pointed out that Brady’s father shot down ESPN’s report and other outlets reported that Brady was “not even close” to making a retirement decision.
After news of his purported retirement went public, Brady called Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht and told him he had not yet made a decision about his future, according to multiple reports.
The Athletic reported that Brady told Tampa Bay he was “not even close” to making a decision. Brady’s agent, Don Yee, also released a statement to ESPN in which he neither confirmed nor denied the news, but said, “Tom will be the only person to express his plans with complete accuracy.”
Brady’s father, Tom Brady Sr., also told multiple outlets his son had not come to a final decision on his future.
“This story is total conjecture,” Brady Sr. told NFL Network’s Mike Giardi. “Tommy has not made a final decision one way or the other and anybody else that says that he has is absolutely wrong.”
Still, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported he confirmed ESPN’s initial report of Brady planning to retire, adding the pushback appeared to be over the timing of the announcement instead of the decision itself.
Brady’s quest for one more title was cut short last Sunday when the Bucs lost to the Rams in the thrilling NFC divisional round. He led what appeared to be one of his signature game-winning drives in the final few minutes before the Rams shockingly won with a field goal as time expired.
After the loss, Brady gave some hints about what would go into his decision to retire.
“My wife [Gisele Bundchen] is my biggest supporter,” Brady said on his “Let’s Go!” podcast last week. “It pains her to see me get hit out there, and she deserves what she needs from me as a husband and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad.
“I’m gonna spend some time with them and give them what they need, because they’ve really been giving me what I need the last six months — to do what I need to do and I said this a few years ago.
“It’s what relationships are all about. It’s not always about what I want. It’s about 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.”
Brady was a sixth-round pick (199th overall) of the Patriots in 2000 and often talked about playing until he was 45 — the age he will turn in August.
Since taking over for the injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001, Brady started 316 games out of a possible 335. He missed all but one game of the 2008 season after tearing his ACL in the opening game and then was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season as a punishment for the Patriots “Deflategate” scandal.
