In the video, Tom Brady smiles slightly: this time, he assures us, his decision is made “for good”. The greatest quarterback in history retires from football at the age of 45.
Forty-five years is crazy when you think about it! It takes enormous talent and remarkable life discipline to last so long in a violent sport like football, where the quarterback is the target of his rivals on almost every play.
But above all, it takes passion, an all-consuming passion for sport and victory. Last spring, Brady was caught up in this passion after withdrawing for the first time. A month later, he announced his return.
It was not the proverbial “season too many”, even if some matches raised doubts. Brady’s stats have been impressive again. But we felt less this fabulous aura that has always characterized him, this certainty that with him in charge, the match was never over, despite a delay in the fourth quarter.
Even if his Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost sharply in the first round of playoffs, Tom Brady was right to play this final campaign. He thus went to the end of his adventure without feeling any regret.
Hanging up his cleats is certainly not an easy decision, because several teams would have hired him with joy if he had remained in the game. The Las Vegas Raiders, according to rumor, particularly coveted him.
With his seven Super Bowl conquests, Brady is the greatest player in the history of American football. While all fans have their favorite “Brady moment”, two of his triumphs stand out.
First, that of February 5, 2017. Midway through the third quarter, his New England Patriots lost 28-3 to the Atlanta Falcons. That’s when Brady seizes the moment.
With exceptional panache, he orchestrated the comeback of his team, who won the Super Bowl 34-28 in overtime. A stunning performance that, in terms of pure leadership, may never be matched in the NFL.
The poor Falcons were victims of an avalanche against which they were powerless. “I never panicked, nor did my teammates,” Brady explained simply after the game.
Four years later, this time in a Buccaneers uniform, Brady led his team to a one-sided win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
PHOTO DAVID J. PHILLIP, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Tom Brady won the Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in February 2021.
It wasn’t the best Super Bowl, but the matchup did answer one question: Yes, Brady could win without Bill Belichick, the fearsome head coach who coached him for 20 seasons.
Brady showed guts by changing teams at the age of 43, agreeing to work with a new head coach when he could have retired with honors. He was obviously on a mission, as if he had wanted to free himself from the specter of Belichick. A successful bet, to say the least.
Beyond all his exploits, the story of deflated balloons, which earned him four games of suspension in 2016, is also part of Brady’s record.
The Patriots were found guilty of playing balls in a playoff game that did not meet the minimum pressure threshold in order to provide a competitive advantage to their quarterback, who preferred them that way. Brady always denied responsibility, but ended up dropping his legal challenges and accepting the suspension.
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Last Sunday, both conference finals were started by quarterbacks in their twenties. There was a powerful symbol there, that of a major generational change, confirmed by Brady’s retirement three days later.
Over the past 15 years, in addition to Brady, legendary quarterbacks have thrilled us: Peyton Manning, his brother Eli (two Super Bowl titles too, let’s not forget), Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers…
Of all these champions, only Rodgers is still active. The future – and much of the present! – belongs to Patrick Mahomes, of the Kansas City Chiefs (already a Super Bowl conquest, perhaps a second on February 12); Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles; Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals; Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers; Trevor Lawrence of the Jacksonville Jaguars came out of his shell on the home stretch of the schedule…
And, who knows, Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers may prove next season that he can make it big in the long run.
Last choice of the last draft, Purdy surprised by successfully taking over for his injured teammates during the fall. Too bad he himself was hit in an elbow at the start of last Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. I would have liked to see how he would have fared in such a crucial game.
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Brady is retiring as a player, but will remain active in the world of football. Last year, he signed a 10-year contract with the Fox network for a sum estimated, according to American media, at 375 million US! He will notably be an analyst of matches on TV.
He is also an active entrepreneur with, among other things, his clothing collection. But, like many others, he has had less success with cryptocurrencies.
Brady will have entertained us for over 20 years and that deserves a lot of respect.
His enormous accomplishments are also a reminder of how tricky the drafting of players is. In 2000, he was chosen in the… sixth round, 199e in total ! In my mind, this remains one of the most bizarre facts in the history of contemporary sport.