Taking his Tom
Brady in no rush to decide whether or not he’ll retire
Tom Brady seems to be seriously considering retirement, but he also doesn’t seem to be shutting the door on his football career quite yet.
On his SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Go!” with co-host Jim Gray, Brady took listeners through his thought process on what factors he is considering. He said he continues to love the competition of football, but on the other hand he
recognizes the sacrifices his family has made for his career and is
cognizant of how his wife, Gisele Bündchen, feels watching him get hit hard by defenders.
After the Buccaneers’ playoff loss to the Rams on Sunday, Brady said he was going to take some time to figure out whether he returns or retires. Gray asked him about the process of that.
“I think the point is there’s no real rush for me to figure out what’s next,” Brady said. “I’ll know when I know. It’s the day after the season. I think for all of us we can decompress a bit. It’s been six straight months of football. Every day, consumed by day in and day out football. Now is just the time to spend some time with my family and my kids.
“As I’ve gotten older I think the best part is, football is extremely important in my life and it means a lot to me and I care about what we’re trying to accomplish as a team, and my teammates. The biggest difference now that I’m older is I have kids now and I care about them a lot as well.”
He talked about the sacrifices of his family.
“My wife is my biggest supporter,” Brady said. “It pains her to see me get hit out there, and she deserves what she needs from me as a husband and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad. I’m gonna spend some time with them and give them what they need, because they’ve really been giving me what I need the last six months — to do what I need to do and I said this a few years ago. It’s what relationships are all about. It’s not always about what I want. It’s about what we want as a family. And I’m gonna spend a lot of time with them and figure out in the future what’s next.”
Gray asked Brady if he would like a farewell tour.
“I think that’d be distracting for me,” Brady said. “My enjoyment comes not from recognition of what I’ve accomplished as a player in the league. My enjoyment comes from the competition.”