For the second year in a row, legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady has announced his retirement. A year to the day of last year’s retirement announcement, which he changed course on just weeks later, he says the decision is final.
“I’m retiring. For good. 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,” Brady said in a video published to Twitter on Wednesday morning.
“I won’t be long winded. You only get one super emotional retirement essay, and I used mine up last year. So, I really thank you guys so much, to single one of you for supporting me. My family, my friends, teammates, my competitors. I could go on forever, there’s too many. Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream. I wouldn’t change a thing. Love you all.”
A source told Sports Illustrated’s Greg Bishop that Brady called the team around 6 a.m. ET. on Wednesday morning to inform them of his decision, around two hours before his video was posted to Twitter. He was weighing whether to retire until Tuesday, and had decided he would either play for Tampa Bay or retire, and would not move to another franchise in 2023. ESPN’s Jeff Darlington was first to report on the timing of Brady’s decision.
The 45-year-old leaves the NFL as one of the greatest players, if not the greatest, of all time, winning seven total Super Bowls with the Patriots and Buccaneers in a career that spanned from 2000–01 to 2022–23. His most recent title came in Super Bowl LV, at the end of his first season with the Buccaneers.
During that run, he won five Super Bowl MVP awards and three NFL MVPs. He also received six total All-Pro selections and 15 Pro Bowl nods. He led the NFL in passing yards four times and touchdown passes five times, most recently in 2021 for both categories.
Brady’s run to the top of the NFL mountain began when he was famously selected with the No. 199 pick in the 2000 NFL draft. A year later, he became an unlikely hero for the Patriots after being inserted into the starting job after a frightening injury to star quarterback Drew Bledsoe. He and the Patriots would go on to win Super Bowl XXXVI against Kurt Warner’s “The Greatest Show on Turf” Rams that year, cementing Brady as an NFL star in his second year in the league. It was the first of six Super Bowl wins in nine appearances with Bill Belichick’s dynastic New England squad.
Brady won Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year award twice during his career, first in 2005, and for a second time in 2021 after leading Tampa Bay to victory in Super Bowl LV.
At 45, he remained largely effective in 2022, but took a step back from his remarkable numbers with the Buccaneers the previous two years, throwing for 4,694 yards, 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions, his lowest touchdown total since 2019, his final year in New England. Tampa Bay also struggled as a team, winning the NFC South at 8–9 but falling in the wild-card round of the playoffs to the Cowboys, 31–14. That loss will go down as Brady’s final game, assuming he does not come out of retirement for a second time. He completed 35 of 66 passes for 351 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the contest.
Brady retires with numerous NFL career records, including completions (7,753), touchdown passes (649), passing yards (89,214), and quarterback wins (251). In 2022, he broke his own single-season league record for completions (490) and set a new mark for attempts (733).
With his retirement, Brady will become eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2028.
