TOM BRADY announced Wednesday morning that he retiring “for good” from football. Mr. Brady, 45, initially retired from professional football last Feb. 1. He changed his mind 40 days later and returned to play the 2022 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
On Wednesday, Mr. Brady took to social media and said the following in a video: “Good morning, guys. I’ll get to the point right away. I’m retiring for good.
“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. You only get one super emotional retirement essay, and I used mine up last year, so really thank you guys so much to every single one of you for supporting me.
“My family, my friends, my teammates, my competitors — I could go on forever, there’s too many,” Mr. Brady said in the video, fighting back tears. “Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream. I wouldn’t change a thing. Love you all.”
Mr. Brady concludes one of the most decorated NFL careers of all time. Among his records: most Super Bowl championships (seven), most regular-season wins by a quarterback (251), most postseason wins by a quarterback (35), most passes completed (7,753), most pass attempts (12,050), most passing yards (89,214) and most passing touchdowns (649).
He is a three-time NFL Most Valuable Player and a 15-time Pro Bowl selection.
Mr. Brady spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots, then joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ahead of the 2020 season and led them to a Super Bowl championship in his first campaign.
In 2021, he led the NFL in passing yards (5,316) and passing touchdowns (43) before those numbers fell to 4,694 and 25, respectively, in 2022 as the Buccaneers finished 8-9. Tampa Bay made the playoffs as the champion of the weak NFC South before getting hammered by Dallas in the wild-card round. — Reuters