Legendary QB Tom Brady admitted in a new interview that he can see the end of his years in the NFL coming sooner rather than later and said he’s realized he doesn’t “have five years left.”
During a wide-ranging interview with Variety magazine, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ star was asked point-blank about his sudden reversal of retirement from the league in March, after announcing in February he was walking away from the sport after playing professional football for 22 seasons.
“I made the decision in the moment, and I felt it was the right thing for the team to let the Bucs know,” Brady shared. “You need time to plan. And then through conversations with Bruce [Arians, the team’s former coach], Jason [Licht, general manager] and my wife, I felt like I could still play and compete.”
“I would have preferred to un-retire in July if I wanted to play,” he added. “But I couldn’t. If I said I’m not playing, they’d make plans. So I felt there was a lot of pressure to make a decision quickly. And then ultimately, I just decided, ‘Yes, let’s do it.’ And once I said that, it was like — OK, here we go.”
When pressed by the interviewer if he knows when he will be “done with football” Brady said he didn’t yet, but did give some details that the end is near.
“I really don’t,” the Super Bowl-winning QB told the outlet. “I would say it’s year to year: Could this be my last year? Absolutely. Could I change my mind? Absolutely.”
Will Tom Brady have a different broadcasting voice when he joins Fox Sports as a lead NFL analyst?
“Boom!, like a John Madden? No, I’ll be myself,” he says. https://t.co/KzdNfAtBzx pic.twitter.com/W8qj55bRtP
— Variety (@Variety) July 14, 2022
“I’ve realized I don’t have five years left,” he added. “I want to do it my way. I want to give it everything I got and see where I’m at. My body feels really good. I’ve had a lot of traumatic injuries over the years, but if things go really smoothly and we win, that’d be great.”
At one point, the seven-time wining Super Bowl QB was asked if the Bucs star had ever given any thought about a career in politics after he finally walks away from the game.
“Probably not,” Brady shared. “I don’t think anyone’s fond of politics these days.”