‘12 on 12’ (for and against) Brady’s return to the NFL

TAMPA – It was 44 degrees here at 6 a.m. Monday morning. They call that “bitterly cold” in these parts. The temperature was poetic in that 44-year-old quarterback Tom Brady has been put on ice for at least another eight months. Or forever. Across Champa Bay, the flags were lowered, the cannons were silenced, and the Pirate Ship sat in dry dock. Brady and the Buccaneers will not be repeating as Super Bowl champions.

Sources close to Brady – who may or may not be named Don Yee and Alex Guerrero – are letting it be known that Brady is as close to retirement now as he ever has been.

If Brady played his final NFL game Sunday, he exited the arena battered, bruised, beaten and bloodied. Brady is the only human being to erase both a 28-3 and 27-3 deficit in the NFL postseason. The 30-27 loss to the Rams concluded the 365th game and 363rd start of Brady’s career.

That’s a full calendar year of Brady spread out over 22 professional seasons. Or 25 if you count his 35-12 record in the playoffs. The average NFL game takes 3 hours, 12 minutes. Those 363 starts equal (give or take) 1,161 hours and 36 minutes of entertainment for unrepentant Bradyphiles. Think 48.5 days of non-stop joy, sadness, euphoria, despair, and profanity. All of it was televised. Throw in the 41,723 CBS promos for “Two-And-AHalf Broke Girls,” “NCIS: Brockton” and “How I Met Your Surrogate Mother” and it was never boring.

Brady has more football in his cavernous tank. But the greats are supposed to leave their audience wanting more.

Not all GOATS exit as champions. See: Bill Russell. Or hit home runs in their final at-bat. See: Ted Williams. Michael Jordan scored 15 points in his finale with the fifthplace Washington Wizards, a 20-point loss to the Sixers. A cadaverous Muhammad Ali took a beating at the hands of Trevor Berbick in his terminal pro bout, losing a 10-round decision. Tiger Woods’ most-recent – and possibly last – PGA Tour start was a T-38 in the 2020 Masters.

Like Brady, Woods loves a great comeback.

Gods don’t answer letters. And the GOAT isn’t answering questions on his plans for the fall. Brady says he had not “put a lot of thought into” his future. That means it’s foremost in his mind.

Speculation on Brady’s future remains a rite of passage each offseason. And we’re all-in. We have a dozen reasons why Brady should return and a dozen why he should retire. One of them is bound to be right.

Call it: “12 for 12.”