CELEBRATION POST FOR AN ALL-TIME GREAT FROM AN ETERNAL TOM BRADY HATER
Tom Brady Has Finally Retired After 23 Seasons From The NFL
It’s long overdue but the man still deserves respect for the career that he had
I don’t think that it’s a secret from anyone who’s ever read any story that I’ve written covering Tom Brady. I’m not a fan and have never really been a fan of the man. With that being said, I still respect the way that he changed the game over the past two decades plus and how he will now hold all of the quarterback records for many years to come.
Tom’s accolades and wild consistency
He won 7 Super Bowls and went to 10 total Super Bowls, and worth noting is that he also played in 14 conference championships and had a 10–4 record in those games. He is a proven winner who kept winning throughout his career.
In fact, his only losing season as a starter was this last year in Tampa Bay at the age of 45 and his heroics still carried this bad team to an 8–9 record and a playoff appearance after still winning the NFC South.
Personal struggles in his marriage this year
I criticized him earlier this year when he wouldn’t retire in the middle of the season after his wife had threatened divorce. They quietly and mutually divorced as Tom continued to pursue his love of the game this one last time.
He didn’t even let marriage get in the way of starting what he finished. At the time, I saw it as a selfish and narcissistic move. Looking back, I can see how both sides could’ve played a part in the deterioration of that marriage and my view is much more balanced now.
Lock for the Hall of Fame and his place in the conversation of GOAT
Tom Brady is going to be a lock for the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. There is no doubt in my mind that he will always be talked about, even long after his career is over, in the GOAT quarterback conversation.
Sure, the rules have been much more favorable towards quarterbacks in this era over someone like Montana, Marino, Bradshaw, or Staubach but his name belongs in that conversation regardless.
Tom Brady doesn’t set the rules unless you’re talking about how much pressure his footballs get (Deflategate), what is considered a fumble (The Tuck Rule), and what is allowed when spying on another team’s practice (Spygate), but I am only joking and I digress.
I will continue to just heap on the praise in this article at this point. The point is, he’s been through so much in his career and he played longer and was older than most of his contemporaries at the position.
He could’ve kept playing but I think he (finally) retired
He probably could’ve continued playing past his age 45 season which is why I was reluctant to even comment on his retirement this time. He had also retired last season but then took it back almost a month or so later. I don’t think he’ll do that to us again.
He even briefly joked about that and mentioned it in his recent retirement. He already gave us the whole speech and parting words with his last retirement. He needs not say anything more.
Going to miss rooting against this man and now looking toward watching the next generation of quarterbacks
Regardless of how you feel about this all-time great, he will always be one of, if not the best to ever play this game. I’m almost going to miss rooting against Brady and the Buccaneers and previously the Patriots before that every Sunday.
There is definitely a new generation of incredible pass-throwers and we’re seeing that talent emerge and evolve in real-time before our eyes.
I won’t automatically say that I think that many of his records can be broken but Patrick Mahomes is about to go to another Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs in just his fifth full season as a starter.
He’s my bet on passing the wins in the Super Bowl if any of these quarterbacks can. He’s also outpacing Brady in per-game passing so he could also pass him in yards. It’s also possible that if he plays long enough, he could also pass him in touchdowns.
Too early to already say if and when his records would be broken but he’s definitely going to be comfortable in retirement
It’s still too early to say any of that, though, and those records that Brady shattered will hold up for at least a decade or longer. It just feels good to finally know that he made a decision and that he will (hopefully) stick with it this time.
After all, there is a lucrative 10-year, $375 million dollar announcer job at Fox Sports waiting for him starting now, and he can definitely enjoy retirement by additionally padding his already insane net worth with this cushy job. This means that this definitely won’t be the last time that we see Tom Brady but it does mean that we won’t see him on the field again.
His last game was a 31–14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Tampa in the Super Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs and his last play was an incomplete pass intended for Julio Jones on a short pass down the middle on 4th and 6 that allowed the Cowboys to get the ball back and kneel the game out.
