Tom Brady seems to be seriously considering retirement, but he also doesn’t seem to be shutting the door on his football career quite yet.
On his SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Go!” with co-host Jim Gray, Brady took us through his thought process on what factors he is considering. He continues to love the competition of football, but on the other hand he recognizes the sacrifices his family has made for his career and is cognizant of how his wife, Gisele Bündchen, feels watching him get hit hard by defenders.
After the Buccaneers’ playoff loss to the Rams on Sunday, Brady said he was going to take some time to figure out if he returns or retires. Gray asked him about the process of that.
“I think the point is there’s no real rush for me to figure out what’s next,” Brady said. “I’ll know when I know. It’s the day after the season. I think for all of us we can decompress a bit. It’s been six straight months of football. Every day, consumed by day in and day out football. Now is just the time to spend some time with my family and my kids.
“As I’ve gotten older I think the best part is, football is extremely important in my life and it means a lot to me and I care about what we’re trying to accomplish as a team, and my teammates. The biggest difference now that I’m older is I have kids now and I care about them a lot as well.”
He talked about the sacrifices of his family.
“My wife is my biggest supporter,” Brady said. “It pains her to see me get hit out there, and she deserves what she needs from me as a husband and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad. I’m gonna spend some time with them and give them what they need, because they’ve really been giving me what I need the last six months — to do what I need to do and I said this a few years ago. It’s what relationships are all about. It’s not always about what I want. It’s about what we want as a family. And I’m gonna spend a lot of time with them and figure out in the future what’s next.”
Gray asked Brady if he would like a farewell tour.
“I think that’d be distracting for me,” Brady said. “My enjoyment comes not from recognition of what I’ve accomplished as a player in the league. My enjoyment comes from the competition.
“More so than anything, even yesterday, I was thinking about competing. I wasn’t thinking about anything other than that. When the time comes to think about post-career and second career, I’ll think about those things. When you’re 44, I guess you get asked about that a lot. A lot of people thought I was done playing football in 2015. A lot of people in 2016, said you’re done. A lot of people when I left the Patriots …”
Brady said that every year requires major commitments, and that no one knows what tomorrow will bring.
“Every year I have to make sure I can commit to what the team really needs,” he said. “The team doesn’t deserve any less than my best. And if I feel like I’m not committed to that or can’t play at a championship level, then I need to give someone else a chance to play.
“We’ll see. There’s a lot of time between now and the start of next football season. I’ve got to figure those things out. We never know what’s gonna happen in the future. We really don’t. Kobe Bryant, a great friend of ours, God rest his soul. You think you’re gonna live forever. You’re not. You think you’re gonna play forever. We’re not. What can we do? We can enjoy the moments we have.”
It is better to have played and lost than to have never played at all.
“As difficult as it was to lose the game yesterday, I was glad that I played in it,” Brady said. “As challenging as the season was, I was glad I played — because I’m living my life. I’m not just counting the days. My days are meaningful to me. I’m gonna try to keep them meaningful to me.
“In the meantime I’m just gonna try to enjoy the time I have not playing football, because that’s equally important. Playing football I get so much joy from, but not playing football there’s a lot of joy in that for me too, seeing my kids get older and watching them grow. All those things need to be considered, and they will be, and the funny part is most guys retire and then move to Florida. I’m already in Florida! So it’s very confusing even for me.”
Could he leave proud and satisfied, or would the loss to the Rams, falling just short, sting too much?
“I would say I’m proud and satisfied of everything we accomplished this year,” Brady said. “I know when I give it my all that’s something to be proud of. I’ve literally given everything I have [every year]. I don’t leave anything half-assed. I leave it with everything I have. My physical being, I work really hard on that.
“I feel like I give everything to my teammates, although it is divided attention as you get older because there’s different priorities and responsibilities in life, and I have things happening outside of football that require time and energy. Not a ton. The kids require time and energy too, and that’s enjoyable for me.
“Again, I’ll know when the time is right and there’s no rush to make a decision. We’ll just see.”