Tom Brady has retired. We think. For now at least, I am taking him at his word, but I have seen a similarly-situated player “unretire” before (Brett Favre). I do believe Brady wants to focus on family and other business ventures. He will be successful in whatever he chooses to do; his DNA is full of self-motivation and self-discipline, two traits that I believe to be drivers of success.
If Brady does return to football, it won’t be with the Bucs; that (pirate) ship has sailed. As for speculation about Brady joining his hometown 49ers, that would surprise me. They mortgaged the future for a quarterback (Trey Lance) in April. Could they delay the Lance era for Tom Brady? Sure, but do the 49ers or Brady really want a “keep the seat warm” situation? Also, with the 49ers or any team, there are logistics that would have to be worked out where Brady would have to fit salary cap–wise and deal with the Bucs in terms of him coming off of their reserve/retired list, etc. It could happen, but there are a lot of moving parts.
Although playing in the NFL has been half of Brady’s life, I do think that when he is retired—fully retired—we will not see him much. I see him more in Andrew Luck mode than, say, Peyton Manning mode. When Luck retired, I was sure he would not be around the NFL or its teams again; there was too much life out there for him, too many places to see and things to do. I see Brady similarly, not as nerdy or philosophical as Luck, but interested in a bigger life than football.
