On the anniversary of Tom Brady announcing his retirement from the NFL the first time, the greatest quarterback in NFL history did it again.
Tom Brady has retired, but this time, he says it’s “for good.” One year ago, rumors spiraled around Brady’s pending retirement until he eventually announced he was stepping away from football, only to make his grand return 40 days later. This year, the rumors were more about where Brady would be playing next, with retirement appearing to be off the table. But on Wednesday morning, Feb. 1, 2023, in a casual and seemingly unrehearsed video posted to his social media accounts, Brady announced his retirement from playing in the NFL and it sounded genuine.
Truly grateful on this day. Thank you 🙏🏻❤️ pic.twitter.com/j2s2sezvSS
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) February 1, 2023
“Good morning guys, I’ll get to the point right away. I’m retiring. For good,” Brady said. “I know the process was a pretty big deal last time, so when I woke up this morning, I figured I’d just press record and let you guys know first. I won’t be longwinded. I think you only get one super emotional retirement essay and I used mine up last year.”
Brady proceeded to tear up as he thanked his family, friends, teammates and competitors. “Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream. I wouldn’t change a thing. Love you all.”
So what’s next? Does Brady pursue NFL ownership? Does he unretire and play for a 24th season? Or does Brady follow through on his $375 million contract to be a lead analyst for Fox and join Kevin Burkhardt in the booth next year? If Brady does enter the booth, he’ll do so with added pressure, having to succeed Greg Olsen who has been lauded for his NFL analysis this season.
Brady’s retirement announcement is timely for NFL teams who were hoping they had a chance at signing him to quarterback their roster next season. The Dolphins, 49ers and Raiders are all now able to go through their offseason without the question of, ‘should we sign Brady?’
But Brady’s retirement announcement is untimely for Burkhardt and Olsen. Fox already announced their Super Bowl LVII coverage plans and Brady was not part of it. But as Olsen and Burkhardt prepare to call Super Bowl LVII for Fox next week, they’ll do so with having to answer tired questions about Brady’s pending deal with Fox. Brady’s looming future is already an exhausted topic and an automatic question that Burkhardt and Olsen are forced to answer every time they make a media appearance, but unfortunately, those questions will only be ramped up during media week now that Brady has officially retired – again.
