Christine Brennan
Win title at 40, then retire to stay healthy
A case can be made for why this will be Tom Brady’s last season in the NFL.
What do you get for the quarterback who has everything on his 40th birthday?
He needs neither fame nor fortune. He has plenty of rings and trophies.
Clothes? The jersey that disappeared in a locker room in Houston over the winter has long since been returned. Sports equipment? He must have a pump to blow up footballs by now.
Tom Brady turns 40 on Thursday. In some ways, it seems impossible that such boyish youth could be reaching that milestone. Then again, if 40 is the new 25, New England Patriots fans can look on the bright side: Brady would still have about 10 good years left.
But he doesn’t, of course. He’s living on borrowed time as it is. Who’s 40 in the NFL? Almost no one, that’s who. Ben Roethlisberger said this week that he’s coming back this season but is making no promises for next year, and he’s five years younger than Brady.
A 26-year-old offensive line-
man, the Baltimore Ravens’ John Urschel, abruptly retired last week, just two days after the news that all but one of 111 brains of former NFL players showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated hits to the head.
In May, Gisele Bundchen, Brady’s wife, told CBS News that Brady had a concussion during the 2016 season. In July, during an ESPN interview, Brady didn’t deny it.
So, think about it. What does the great Tom Brady need? What does he want?
How about this: one more season.
Six months. September, October, November and December of 2017, plus January and February of 2018. (It’s the Patriots. Of course, February is included.)
Across those six months, Brady gets to play a full season of games for the only NFL team he has known. He doesn’t have to miss even one play, unless he wants. No hits to the head, no other injuries.
He gets to end the season as he starts it, in good health.
And then he should walk away.
The words Bundchen uttered on CBS This Morning nearly three months ago might not have been intended as a mes- sage to her husband, but they should be.
“He had a concussion last year,” she said. “I mean, he has concussions pretty much every … you know, we don’t talk about it but he does have concussions. I don’t really think it’s a healthy thing for your body to go through that kind of aggression all the time. That cannot be healthy for you, right? I mean, I’m planning on having him be healthy and do a lot of fun things when we’re like 100, I hope.”
Brady has won five Super Bowls. He has been named MVP of the Super Bowl four times. He is a two-time NFL MVP and a 12-time Pro Bowler. He was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year in 2005.
He would be the first to say that’s all in the past, that what excites him is the next challenge, not the last. All right then. Let’s take a look at the immediate future. The Patriots are loaded heading into this season. With their talent and their coaching, it doesn’t take much of an imagination to see them reaching the Super Bowl again.
So, happy birthday, Tom. Have a great season, then say a sensible goodbye.
Somewhere out there, your 100th birthday awaits.