This time it’s official: Legendary QB Tom Brady announces he’s retiring ‘for good’
The greatest quarterback in NFL history is officially hanging up his cleats. Tom Brady announced Wednesday that he was retiring from football after 23 legendary seasons. The seven-time Super Bowl champion legend announced the news on social media with a 53-second video.
Brady said after initially retiring last offseason, he wanted to get ahead of the news and let everyone know. The 45-year-old leaves the game after 20 seasons in New England, 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 in the Instagram post. “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, 2022. 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 after Bledsoe was hit by New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis in Week 2 of the 2001 season. The young quarterback never looked back. 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 36..
Early in his career, Brady was known as a clutch quarterback on a Patriots team with a strong defense. By his fifth season, he had led the Patriots to three Super Bowl wins with two more victories over the Carolina Panthers (Super Bowl 38) and Philadelphia Eagles (39). 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 dedicated 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 42. Brady set NFL records with 50 passing touchdowns and 4,806 passing yards that year. The loss to the Giants was his first of three Super Bowl losses. Brady and the Patriots also lost to New York in Super Bowl 52 during the 2011 NFL season.
Brady and the Patriots put together another historic run from 2011 to 2019. That period saw the Patriots win three more Super Bowls and get to eightstraight AFC Championship games.
In 2014, Brady won his fourth championship in a dramatic Super Bowl 49 win over the Seattle Seahawks. He won MVP honors that game for the third time in his career, tying Joe Montana’s NFL record. Brady finishes his career with a record five Super Bowl MVPS.
Brady also found himself in the middle of the Deflategate controversy at the end of the 2014 season. He was suspended four games, which he appealed through the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell claimed Brady ordered two Patriots employees to deflate football prior to the Patriots 2014 conference championship win over the Indianapolis Colts.
That ultimately cost Brady four games at the start of the 2016 season. However, the quarterback got the last laugh. That season, the Patriots won their fifth championship over the Atlanta Falcons. Super Bowl 51 saw Brady orchestrate the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. Down 28-3 midway through the third quarter, the Patriots scored 25 unanswered points before winning in overtime.
That period saw the Patriots go to three consecutive Super Bowls. The team lost to the Eagles in Super Bowl 52 despite Brady throwing for a Super Bowl and playoff record 505 yards in that 41-33 loss. At that point, Brady was 40 years old and had won his third NFL MVP award. He won his last Super Bowl with New England the next season over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 53.
Brady’s career with the Patriots ended after the 2019 season. That year saw the team lose to the Tennessee Titans in the wildcard round of the playoffs. Brady signed with Tampa Bay that offseason, and at 43 he won his seventh Super Bowl, leading the Buccaneers to a 31-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 55.
In 2021, Brady led the NFL in passing yards (5,316) and passing touchdowns (43) at the age of 44.
He’s already signed on for a post-retirement football broadcasting career, but one of his upcoming stops will undoubtedly be in Canton, Ohio, at the NFL Hall of Fame.