If this isn’t quintessential Tom Brady playing with the entire sporting world’s emotion, then I don’t know what is.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington dropped one of their largest reporting bombs yet on Saturday, revealing that the 44-year-old seven-time Super Bowl champion was retiring after 22 seasons with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
[ALSO READ: Report says Tom Brady, who lost two Super Bowls to Giants but won 7 others, is retiring]
Almost instantaneously, however, multiple people from Brady’s camp threw cold water on such rumors.
“I understand the advance speculation about Tom’s future,” Brady’s agent, Don Yee, said. “Without getting into the accuracy or inaccuracy of what’s being reported, Tom will be the only person to express his plans with complete accuracy. He knows the realities of the football business and planning calendar as well as anybody, so that should be soon.”
Brady’s father also told Tampa’s Kron4News that his son is not retiring.
Schefter and Darlington are maintaining their stance that Brady will call it quits this offseason.
“It is unknown when Brady will formalize his plans to retire, but that move will be made with consideration to not upstage the NFL’s postseason games, including the Super Bowl,” Schefter wrote. “Brady’s company, TB12 Sports, sent a tweet that appeared to confirm his decision but later deleted the post.”
Super Bowl LVI is scheduled for Feb. 13.
Brady and the Buccaneers were knocked out of the playoffs in the Divisional Round against the Los Angeles Rams despite a frantic comeback from a 27-3 third-quarter deficit. Following the game, speculation immediately began about Brady’s future in the NFL.
“I said this a few years ago, it’s what relationships are all about,” Brady said on his “Let’s Go” podcast. “It’s not always what I want. It’s what we want as a family. And I’m going to spend a lot of time with them and figure out in the future what’s next.
“I’ll know when I know. I think for all of us, you know, we can all decompress a bit. It’s been six straight months of football. Every day consumed by day in and day out football. And I think now it’s just some time to spend some time with my family and spend some time with my kids.”
Those certainly sound like the comments of a man leaning toward retirement. Now he might just want to announce it on his terms to confirm what was once almost unthinkable.
Brady certainly has nothing left to prove as the undisputed greatest quarterback of all time. He holds NFL records in passing yards (84,520), passing touchdowns (624), and Super Bowls won (7) — which is more than every single team in the league.
