Tom Brady has spent over half of his lifetime playing in the NFL, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback reaching the incredible landmark at the age of 45.
Brady is under contract until the end of the season with the Buccaneers, and is expected to leave at the end of the current campaign in order to play elsewhere. The 45-year-old could return to the New England Patriots, but has also been tipped to join the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Buccaneers have endured a poor season so far, despite being able to punch their ticket to the post-season on Sunday if they beat the Carolina Panthers, but that hasn't stopped Brady from hitting a host of personal milestones.
He hit the most impressive one on Thursday, despite not throwing a ball or even taking part in practice. Brady has now been in the NFL for 8,292 days, the exact same length of time as the period from his birth to draft day.
Brady nearly fell short of equalling that record, considering he initially retired in 2022 after the Buccaneers were eliminated from the Play-Off picture. However, he quickly reversed that decision and decided to carry on playing.
Whether that decision was the right one is a debate still going on, with many feeling he should have committed to walking away from the sport. But the man himself opened up on his decision earlier this week, insisting he feels he wasn't fully ready to quit.
When asked about whether he was considering his future in the sport for a second straight year, Brady said: "I really don’t [think about retiring again].
"What I realized last year is you gotta be really sure to do that, and for me, you know, a lot of people have gone through this situation... I’m gonna take my time, whenever that time does come.
"In the meantime I have a hugely important job the team’s asking me to do, and I want to go out there and I want to play my best these last two weeks of the regular season.”
