Tom Brady has now officially been an NFL quarterback for more than half of his life. Throughout that time, he has been the best player at the position in the league - going on to win seven Super Bowl's in a career that will be remembered as the greatest ever.
During the 2017 Super Bowl, Brady's New England Patriots completed the greatest comeback in the history of the sport when they were down 28-3, to go and win 34-28 after a heroic effort by the quarterback who would win Super Bowl MVP. This would be Brady's fifth Super Bowl ring, overtaking Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw to have the most in NFL history.
And The Ringer CEO Bill Simmons has argued that after this, something in Tom Brady changed.
Simmons, a diehard New England Patriots fan, has been a close follower of Brady's career and believes that the win over the Falcons was a defining moment of his career.
Speaking on the Slow News Day podcast, Simmons said: "I think celebrities can fly too close to the flame and the Falcons Super Bowl (2017) was when he did that and became immortal. Once that happens, choices start to be made that he wouldn't have done in earlier parts of his career. I knew when he filmed that Tom vs Time 10 episode series - and there's been a lot of those. "
Simmons would also argue that Brady should have retired after the Buccaneers Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2020 season.
He said: "I feel like he should have just retired after he won the Super Bowl (with Tampa Bay in 2021) that would have been a great time to walk away. He goes away for 40 days after retiring and decides he wants to play again. I think he made an agreement with his wife to not play again.
"He's changed his appearance, he got really skinny. I also feel like he doesn't look like he has fun playing football - I have watched a million games from that guy, and there's a spirit that he had that he loves football. In recent weeks, I get the vibe that he's unsure if he should have came back. I don't think it ends well.
"You could tell me he's going to retire, win a Super Bowl, or start dating Julia Roberts. Name a scenario and I'd believe it."
Many analysts have argued that Brady may already regret the decision to come back to the NFL this year, despite having an impressive season so far. Brady ranks third in the NFL in receiving yards thrown for, with his side sitting atop of the conference with a 3-2 record.
However, in his personal life, the 45-year-old is reportedly going through a divorce with wife Gisele Bundchen.
