Tom Brady throws a football to a fan at American Dream during the grand opening of Card Vault by Tom Brady, a sports card and memorabilia retailer, East Rutherford, Friday, Apr. 11, 2025. Tom Brady throws a football to a fan at American Dream during the grand opening of Card Vault by Tom Brady, a sports card and memorabilia retailer, East Rutherford, Friday, Apr. 11, 2025. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Caruso/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.
By Sam Neumann on

Tom Brady is back — sort of.

Brady announced he’s “coming out of retirement” to play in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic in Saudi Arabia next March. He revealed the news before Monday night’s Raiders-Chargers game, saying his “competitive juices” are still flowing and that he’s always admired flag football.

The 48-year-old future Hall of Famer will join Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, CeeDee Lamb, Maxx Crosby, Rob Gronkowski, Sauce Gardner, Myles Garrett, Brock Bowers, Tyreek Hill, and Odell Beckham Jr. for the tournament at Kingdom Arena during Riyadh Season on March 21, 2026. Pete Carroll, Sean Payton, and Kyle Shanahan will coach the three teams.

Kevin Hart will host the event, which will air live on Fox Sports and Tubi.

This marks Brady’s first time playing football of any kind since retiring three years ago, and he’s already making guarantees. “I will be bringing home the trophy,” Brady said in the announcement.

The format follows Olympic-style flag football rules on a 50-yard field with 5-on-5 teams and two 20-minute halves. Three teams of eight players will compete in a round-robin tournament, with the top two advancing to a championship.

Brady’s return comes after months of entertaining questions about flag football at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“I’m still very competitive,” he told Complex Sports earlier this year. “If you put a football in my hand, then watch out because that’s still in there. That’s never going to go away.”

The announcement puts Brady back on a football field, even if it’s flag football in Saudi Arabia rather than the Olympics in Los Angeles. One represents competing for his country on the sport’s biggest stage. The other is what Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin calls “the expanding global sports landscape in the Middle East.”

Brady currently works as Fox’s lead NFL color commentator, two years into a 10-year, $375 million deal. His broadcasting has improved after a rocky start, but he’s settled into the background of games rather than dominating them like he did as a player.

Now Fox Sports is also broadcasting his return to competition.

Flag football has exploded in popularity, with more than 20 million players globally, according to the announcement. The sport’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympics and the NFL’s embrace of the format have accelerated growth. The league voted last month to allow active players to participate in Olympic flag football, though most stars with guaranteed contracts probably won’t risk injury for a gold medal.

Retired players — like Brady — face no such concerns.

For someone who spent 23 seasons redefining quarterback excellence and won seven Super Bowls, it’s a return to competitive football without the possibility of getting hit. Brady’s competitive drive kept him playing until 45 in the NFL, and apparently won’t let him stay completely away from the game.

The greatest quarterback of all time will be throwing passes again, just with different rules and a very different purpose.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann