Tom Brady on retirement: “I’m going to take my time”
The former Patriots quarterback addressed the word ‘retirement’ again. But this time, he is being more “decisive” about his decision
The last time Tom Brady thought about retiring, he led the NFL world to a prolonged back-and-forth spectacle until he officially hung up his hat, which only ended up lasting 40 days before he was back on the field again.
That decision cost him his relationship, after having been married to Gisele Bündchen for 13 years, among other consequences.
Since Brady has been back, he does not take the subject of retirement lightly.
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback laid out his perspective on retirement in this week’s episode of his podcast, “Let’s Go!” with Jim Gray.
Brady addresses retirement
Brady said he wasn’t sure about whether the decision of his former teammate, Rob Gronkowski, was to potentially step out of retirement to return to the NFL, but he knows his next decision will be more “decisive.”
“I think next time I decide to retire, that’s it for me,” Brady said. “So whenever that day comes, we’ll figure it out.”
Responding to whether he’s thought about his own retirement situation at the end of the year, the 45-year-old said “I really don’t think about retirement at this point.”
The one thing the seven-time Super Bowl winner knows is that he doesn’t want to repeat last year’s flip-flop.
“I think what I really realized last year was, you got to be really sure to do that,” Brady said. “A lot of people have kind of gone through a situation ... So I’m going to take my time, whenever that time does come.”
Brady has a hugely important job with the Bucs
Brady stressed that there is a difference between players making up their minds about retirement as soon as a season is over, and how they feel in the following days and weeks.
For now, Brady said he’s focusing his attention on his performance with Tampa Bay, who are unlikely division leaders in the NFC South at 7-8.
“In the meantime, I have a hugely important job the team’s asking me to do and I want to go out there and I want to play my best the last two weeks of the regular season,” Brady said.