Tom Brady Decided He Doesn’t Want To Be Retired From The NFL After All
Last November, Tom Brady sat down with his longtime friend and fellow Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammate Rob “The Gronk” Gronkowski for a little Match Game-style friendship quiz (seen above looking like two broke Florida dads in a $5 Walmart pool). And the very first question that was asked was for Tom and Gronk to guess what Tom will do when he finally retires. Gronk predicted Tom would go on to own his own football team, while Tom answered that he’d probably spend his newfound free time golfing. As it turns out, both answers were dead wrong. Tom announced his retirement last month, and how is Tom Brady spending his retirement? By un-retiring and going back to play professional football, that’s how!
In his retirement announcement, Tom said that after 22 years, he wasn’t able to make a 100% commitment to the game anymore and that he needed to dedicate time and energy to things that deserved his time and energy. But Tom’s changed his mind. Tom posted a retirement update on Twitter yesterday and pulled a “just kidding” by letting everyone know that two months was enough to know that he doesn’t want to be a retired rich guy after all.
These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands. That time will come. But it’s not now. I love my teammates, and I love my supportive family. They make it all possible. I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa. Unfinished business LFG pic.twitter.com/U0yhRKVKVm
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) March 13, 2022
I wasn’t aware that professional sports retirement was the kind of thing you could do a take-backs on. I guess I just pictured the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s mascot Captain Fear entering the locker room and using his pirate sword to pry Tom’s nameplate off his locker and toss it into the trash (before desperately retrieving it and seeing how much it might go for on eBay).
Tom’s reveal came with pictures of his two families. On the right, is his actual family, featuring his three kids and wife Gisele Bündchen. On the left, is his Tampa Bay Buccaneers family, of which he apparently still wants to be a big part of. ESPN points out that Tom’s retirement technically lasted about 40 days. Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht released their own statement on Tom’s return, saying:
“[Head coach Bruce Arians] and I have had plenty of conversations with Tom recently that led us to believe there was a realistic chance he would want to come back. Tom is the greatest quarterback of all time who is still playing at an elite level. With this decision now made, we will continue to move forward with our offseason plans to reload this roster for another championship run.”
Both Tom’s current wife Gisele and his previous girlfriend (and mother of his first child) Bridget Moynahan, chipped in with their two cents. According to E! News, Bridget posted her own Instagram post on the matter, saying: “Thank God, I had no idea what I was going to do with my Sundays. Congratulations @tombrady, so proud of you!” Gisele commented on Tom’s announcement, which he also posted over on Instagram, saying: “Here we go again! Let’s go lovvvey! Let’s go Bucs!” Aw, so encouraging and positive! Well, on the surface, that is. Behind the scenes could be another story. Bridget and Gisele have a notable history together; Tom got with Gisele and a few months later learned that Bridget was pregnant with Tom’s son. I could see Bridget and Gisele getting together, “The Boy is Mine” music video style, to confront Tom. “If you could easily lie about retiring from the NFL, what else have you been lying about? And don’t try to change the subject to strawberries.”
Pic: YouTube