Tom Brady has addressed questions asking why he is prolonging his NFL career, and it doesn't sound like the seven-time Super Bowl winner is ready to give up yet despite the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' struggles.
The 45-year-old is enduring perhaps the toughest year of his career with the Bucs a shadow of the contender they were in Brady's first two years in Florida, limping to a 6-8 record with three weeks of the regular season remaining after Sunday's defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Brady's longevity as a quarterback is already unrivalled and, by and large, he continues to perform at a high level personally. It is widely expected he will continue playing next year beyond the end of his contract with the Buccs, with the San Francisco 49ers, Las Vegas Raiders, Tenessee Titans and a return to the New England Patriots mooted as possible landing spots.
As his 23rd season in the NFL season nears its end, Brady was philosophical about his motivation to keep playing on his weekly podcast Let's Go!
He said: “It’s interesting because you would think, ‘Oh, well, why is he still playing?’ Because all you want to do is win, and that’s all sports should be about is winning. And I agree it should be about winning, but it’s also, I’m looking at it like, no, what am I learning? What am I learning from putting a similar amount of energy in over the last couple of years and not winning? What is that teaching me?
“You know, why should we feel like we’re just entitled to win all the time? We’re not. That’s not what life’s about.”
“I think anyone who’s gone through life and struggles at their job or struggles in other aspects of life, when you do put effort and energy into it, what are you learning from that as opposed to why is that happening to you and for you?
“You’re not a victim of that. We’re not a victim of losing games. The sun came up today. We’ve got something to do about it. We woke up, we have a chance. This is not the time to feel sorry for yourself.
"So get up, go into work and make it better, and improve it and work harder and work more determined.
"It's so easy to throw in the towel. That's what most people want, it's why you listen on TV and it's 'That's what you should've done'. Well, yeah, if you're a loser, that's what you should do. You should just fold the tent when things don't go the way you want. That's not the way life is."
Despite having a record under .500, Brady and the Bucs should make the playoffs by clinching top spot in a lowly NFC South in the final three weeks of the regular season, with a soft schedule against the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons.
Brady also admitted this season has brought many new challenges. He has never lost eight regular-season games in a season before and this year could be the first time he has had a losing record as a pro.
"The emotional challenges of losing are really hard," he said. "It's hard to show up to the media and say 'Why aren't you getting it done? What's wrong with you? Why are you guys not performing the way you want?'
"I've never had to deal with that and it's not very fun and I've had a lot more empathy for guys that are putting in that time and energy and things are not going their way."
