Tom Brady isn’t going to the Las Vegas Raiders or Miami Dolphins, or San Francisco 49ers, or New York Jets. He’s retiring, for real this time.
The future Hall-of-Famer and one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the sport announced from his social media accounts on Wednesday morning that he’s calling it quits.
“I’ll get to the point right away. I’m retiring, for good,” Brady said in the 53-second video. “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.”
Truly grateful on this day. Thank you 🙏🏻❤️ pic.twitter.com/j2s2sezvSS
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) February 1, 2023
This is the second time in a year that Brady is retiring, though his initial attempt at hanging up his cleats didn’t last too long. Exactly one year to the day, on Feb. 1, 2022, the then-44-year-old announced his retirement but returned to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers just six weeks later.
“You only get one super-long retirement essay and I used that up last year,” Brady joked. “Thank you 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.”
The 2023 season saw Brady and his Buccaneers descend further into mediocrity. Just two years after winning the Lombardi Trophy and a seventh Super Bowl ring for the passer, Tampa Bay went 8-9 this season and lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round. It was just the second time in the last 12 years that Brady was knocked out in the Wild Card stage of the postseason.
In total, Brady spent three seasons with the Buccaneers after a prolific 20-year stay with the New England Patriots where he became the most accomplished and decorated quarterback in NFL history. He won six championships with Bill Belichick and four Super Bowl MVPs.
His seven total Super Bowl titles is an NFL record — three more than second-place Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw.
The 45-year-old retires as the NFL’s all-time leading passer with 89,214 yards and 649 passing touchdowns.
“Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream,” Brady said. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”
