Tom Brady announces his retirement from the NFL

He already threatened with it last year, and now it seems that his decision is final. Tom Brady, at 45, has announced that he is retiring from the NFL after 23 seasons. The quarterback, winner of seven Super Bowl rings, thus closes a legendary career, being, for many, the best American football player of all time.

“Good morning, guys. I retire. Really. I know it was a big deal last year so I got up and just wanted to record myself so you guys know. I want to thank you all for your support: my family, my friends, my teammates, my rivals... Thank you for letting me live my dream, I wouldn’t change a thing. I love you all,” Brady said in a video posted on social media of him this afternoon. His farewell last year was tremendously chaotic, with Brady confirming his withdrawal and backtracking a few weeks later, so he wanted to be direct this time.

His game against the Dallas Cowboys his last in the NFL

The last game of Brady’s career in the NFL was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, playing in the first round of the playoffs against the Dallas Cowboys. After being eliminated, Brady had a few words at a press conference that sounded like a farewell, although he reiterated that the decision on his future had not been made.

Brady’s contract with the Buccaneers ended after three years with the Bucs and the quarterback had to choose between three options: retire, renew with Tampa Bay or find a new team. There was speculation that he could play for another year, with the San Francisco 49ers or Las Vegas Raiders as more likely destinations. But Brady says enough to the league he has dominated for two decades.

He had little more to prove. His successes speak for themselves and define him for many as the GOAT. He has won seven Super Bowls, more than anyone in history (in fact, no franchise has more than six). He won the first six with the New England Patriots, a team with which he entered the league back in 2000 and where he spent 20 legendary years at the hands of coach Bill Belichick. He won the last Super Bowl in 2021, in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But Brady’s career hasn’t always been rosy. Picked 199th overall in the 2000 Draft, few thought the less-than-athletic quarterback from Michigan could become an important player in such a demanding league. He spent his first year on the bench, and in the second, Drew Bledsoe’s injury opened the door for him to get a title that he never released again. He ended up leading the Patriots to win the first Super Bowl in their history in 2001. The next two came in 2003 and 2004. The remaining three with New England came in 2014, 2016, and 2018. In between, he left legendary moments, such as the Super Bowl, in which he came back to beat the Atlanta Falcons 28-3. It was in 2020 when Brady surprised the planet by announcing his departure from New England after 20 years. He chose Tampa Bay as his destination, and that same year he proved that he had not been wrong with the choice of him winning his seventh championship.

Not even Tom Brady, with that aura of invincibility, was spared from injuries in his career. In 2008 he suffered a severe ligament injury in his left knee. That did not stop a Brady who, if he has stood out above all in something, it has been in his ability to stretch his career without losing an iota of physicality or quality. In a sport in which the average retirement age is 27, the Californian has won four championship rings between the ages of 37 and 44, possibly displaying the best game of his career.

Tom Brady had still more football in the tank and could have kept going

And it is that Brady still had years of good game left. He has broken his single-season record for passes completed with 490 and has collected 4,694 passing yards (sixth most of his career). Moreover, he did not miss his appointment with the playoffs, although for the first time, a team led by Brady finished the regular season for the first time with more losses than wins (8-9).

A total of 383 games played (48 of them in the playoffs), 286 victories, 10 times in the Super Bowl, seven champion rings, five times MVP of the Super Bowl, three times MVP of the regular season, 15 times chosen for the Pro Bowl, three times All Pro... Tom Brady’s career will always be linked to monstrous figures, unattainable for any mortal. He leaves having delivered 102,614 passing yards between the regular season and playoffs and 737 touchdown passes. No one in history has more passing yards or passing touchdowns than him, and he’s hardly going to be surpassed for a while.