The greatest quarterback in NFL history is officially hanging up his cleats.
Tom Brady announced on Wednesday that he was retiring from the game of football after 23 legendary seasons. The seven-time Super Bowl champion and Patriots legend announced the news on social media with a 53-second video.
Brady said after initially retiring last offseason, he wanted to get a head of the news and let everyone know. The 45-year-old leaves the game of football after three seasons in Tampa Bay and a laundry list of NFL accomplishments and records.
“Good morning, guys. I’ll get to the point right away. I’m retiring. For good,” Brady said. “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. I really thank you guys so much – to every single one of you for supporting me. My family, my friends, my teammates, my competitors – I could go on forever. There’s too many. Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream. I wouldn’t change a thing. Love you all.”
Brady announced his retirement last offseason, on Feb. 1. However, 40 days later, on march 13, he announced he was returning to the Buccaneers.
Later, it was discovered that the Miami Dolphins were tampering with Brady and trying to get him in Miami for the 2022 season. The NFL stripped the Dolphins their 2023 first-round pick for violating league policies relating to the integrity of the game. The league discovered that Brady’s agent, Don Yee, had “impermissible communications with the Dolphins in January 2022.
Brady returned to Tampa Bay and finished with 4,694 passing yards to go with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He caps off an amazing career with the most Super Bowl championships for a player with seven. Brady owns most passing records in the regular season, playoffs and Super Bowl. Brady is the only quarterback in NFL history to win a Super Bowl for both an AFC and NFC team.
Brady owns NFL records for most games won by a player (251), most career passing yards (87,852), most career completions (7,610) and so on.
Brady’s story in the NFL played out like a fairy tale. After being drafted in the sixth round, pick 199, he entered the league as a backup to Drew Bledsoe, who was the highest paid quarterback in the NFL. Brady took over for Bledsoe after he was hit by New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis in Week 2 of the 2001 season. The young quarterback never looked back after that. Brady led the Patriots to the franchise’s first Super Bowl win in an improbable upset over the heavily favored St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.
Early in his career, Brady was known as a clutch quarterback on a Patriots team with a strong defense. By his fifth season, he led the Patriots to three Super Bowl wins with two more victories over the Carolina Panthers (Super Bowl XXXVIII) and Philadelphia Eagles (XXXIX). By then, Brady was already considered an all-time great and Patriots legend. No one could have predicted that his career would span decades.
Brady decided himself to health and nutrition en route to winning NFL MVP awards in 2007, 2010 and 2017. The 2007 season saw the Patriots finish the regular season 16-0 before losing to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. Brady set NFL records with 50 passing touchdowns and 4,806 passing yards that year. The lost to the Giants was his first of three Super Bowl losses. Brady and the Patriots also lost to New York in Super Bowl LII during the 2011 NFL season.
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