This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Charles Curtis is filling in for Andy Nesbitt.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a woeful 3-5, having lost their third game in row on Thursday to the Baltimore Ravens. In an NFC South where there are three other really, really bad teams, they’re among those awful squads.
And Tom Brady is at the chaotic center of it all.
He’s thrown over one touchdown in a game this season exactly once. He’s been sacked 13 times this year, on pace for 27, which isn’t that bad, but it would be the most since 2019. This is the worst start of his career, which is wild when you think about it.
All this comes after he retired in the offseason and then unretired. Maybe it’s not completely all on him, but … are we really talking about a Super Bowl contender here?
We aren’t.
Which is why it’s time for him to retire. Again.
But, like … right now.
I’m serious! In the middle of the season! Buccaneers fans wouldn’t be mad — he delivered a Super Bowl ring to the franchise already!
What’s left to play for? I get the argument that he’s made his commitment to this team in 2022, but he’s the GOAT. He’s won seven rings. That doesn’t mean he’s exempt from what everyone else should do, but why continue the chase for an eighth when this Bucs team doesn’t look like it has a chance, and especially when there’s a report every day about his marriage to Gisele Bundchen?
[EDITOR’S NOTE: We published this before news broke about Brady and Bundchen finalizing their divorce.]
Wouldn’t that be a statement? To be able to say, I’m done right now and committing to my family?
It wouldn’t be the first time an athlete called it quits in the middle of a season. It would certainly be the most high-profile example, especially in the NFL (although it wouldn’t be as shocking as, say, Vontae Davis quitting at halftime).
This is the part where I argue against myself — you never count out Brady (COUGH 28-3 COUGH) when he’s down. The Bucs could tinker with some things — coaching staff, perhaps? — and get back on track with two wins before the bye (those are against the Rams, who are a tough team, and then they’re in Germany for a game against the feisty Seahawks).
But the stakes and context are different. We’re talking about football, but — more importantly — his life away from the field. Whatever’s going on with the latter isn’t anyone’s business, but if he’s struggling to balance his personal and/or professional obligations, calling it quits now might be for the best. He’s got nothing left to prove on the field.
It’s OK to walk away, Tom.
Quick hits: Mock draft time! … A diss track focused on Doc Rivers … Why the Coyotes will play at a college arena … and more!
— Our first NFL mock draft of the year from Christian D’Andrea is here.
— This diss track all about the Sixers needing to fire Doc Rivers is amazing.
— Why the Arizona Coyotes will play at a college arena.
— A look at some players who can be dealt by the 2022 NFL trade deadline.
