Tom Brady is seemingly the first player in the history of professional sports to begin his age-44 campaign without really any speculation as to whether this will be his final season. He may be the last one too.
Perhaps, though, we should stop waiting for the moment where Brady flat-out tells the world that this season is going to be his last. What we know about the seven-time Super Bowl Champion is that he's probably not interested in walking away currently. And even when he ultimately is ready to retire, he may not tell the world in time to have a farewell tour.
As far as what circumstances will ultimately lead to his retirement, Brady recently discussed that with Peter King of Football Morning in America:
“I’ll know when the time’s right,” Brady said about retirement. “If I can’t . . . if I’m not a championship-level quarterback, then I’m not gonna play. If I’m a liability to the team, I mean, no way. But if I think I can win a championship, then I’ll play.”
We didn't know entering Peyton Manning's final season that it would be his last campaign, but his play in 2015 -- nine touchdowns to 17 interceptions, with greatly diminished arm strength -- made pretty clear that it was time for the five-time NFL MVP to walk away, even though the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50 in his final game.
Eventually, Brady will reach a similar stage, right? The thing is, Manning reached that stage in his age-39 season. Brett Favre reached it in his age-41 season. Brady has stayed much healthier than Manning or especially Favre did in their careers, and at this point, you feel like a fool to bet against him. He changed teams in his age-43 season, and led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title in his first season away from New England. While doing this, Brady's arm strength was still tremendous, and his team swatted aside Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes -- not to mention literally ending Drew Brees' career -- in the process.
It's possible that Brady finally hits a physical wall in 2021. But King writes that he would be "mildly surprised if he [Brady] doesn't play beyond 45." Frankly, you'd be more likely to convince use to place a bet on Brady throwing an NFL pass in his age-50 season than 2021 being his final year. He's earned every benefit of the doubt.
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