Tom Brady could retire from the NFL after suffering one of the worst playoff defeats of his career.
Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell 31-14 to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night in the wild card round to end what has been an up-and-down season.
The 45-year-old, five-time Super Bowl MVP already retired once after last season only to return 40 days later. He said he’ll take more time to make his decision this time around.
“It’ll be one day at a time, truly,” Brady said.
Brady waved his cap to the crowd as he jogged off the field for perhaps the final time and stopped to kiss his parents before heading into the tunnel.
Before leaving the press conference later, Brady thanked reporters, saying: “Hopefully, you know, I love this organization. It’s a great place to be and thank you everybody for welcoming me.
“Very grateful for the respect and hopefully I gave the same thing back to you guys.”
Brady had been 7-0 against Dallas before this game, including a 19-3 road win in Week 1.
Though he was only sacked twice, the Cowboys pressured him into several throwaways and forced several ill-advised passes.
He had a career-high 66 attempts, completing 35 of them for 351 yards, two TDs and one interception.
After the Buccaneers went three-and-out on their first two possessions, Brady led a long drive before things fell apart.
“Not the way we wanted to end it but we didn’t deserve it,” Brady said. “Give them credit. They played a good game, made a lot more plays than we did.”
Brady is set to become a free agent, so he could choose to continue his unprecedented career with another team. There will be plenty of interest in a player who turns 46 in training camp next season.
The Buccaneers want him back if he continues to play. Teammate Lavonte David said he’ll wait a few weeks before recruiting him.
Brady showed he has plenty left in the regular season despite playing behind an injury-depleted offensive line and without star tight end Rob Gronkowski, who retired in the offseason. He broke his own NFL record for completions in a single season with 490, led the NFC with 4,694 yards and had 25 touchdowns with nine interceptions.
Brady owns nearly every NFL passing record, has won more championships than any player in the sport and is destined for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
