Tom Brady isn’t committed to playing in 2018. Unless he is.
That’s the quick summary of the new report from ESPN, an obvious effort to advance a story that emerged on Monday when Brady didn’t report for the start of the offseason program — and more significantly when Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston suggested that Brady is leading an “open revolt” against coach Bill Belichick and the Patriot Way.
Here’s the story, as advanced by ESPN: Brady hasn’t said with certainty that he’ll play in 2018, but people who know him expect him to play.
Does that really count as news at this point? If ESPN wants to speculate by connecting dots, then just speculate by connecting dots. Don’t twist something that isn’t news into something that is supposed to feel like actual news when it’s really not news.
For example, after talking to Curran on Monday’s PFT PM podcast, I became slightly more convinced that a small possibility exists that Brady will pull a Barry Sanders and retire abruptly at some point between now and training camp. I still think there’s a very small chance it happens, and I didn’t feel compelled to get someone to tell me under the cloak of anonymity, “You know, now that you mention it, Brady has never said, ‘I’m absolutely, positively playing in 2018.'”
When has he ever said that? At one point in his career, Brady consistently said he plans to play 10 more years. At some point, it became a vow to play until he’s 45. He’s never been a year-to-year guy. While it’s possible that he’s now shifting into year-to-year mode, it seems like a stretch to suggest that the absence of a clear statement that he’ll play in 2018 means anything — especially when people who know him say they expect him to play in 2018.
The non-story story prompted Jimmy Traina of SI.com to make this observation: “Here’s why athletes hate the media. ESPN blasts out a story saying Tom Brady hasn’t committed to playing in 2018. Story quotes two ‘sources.’ Both say Brady will play. Not one quote in the story says he may not play.”
The truth here seems to be that ESPN wanted to plant a flag regarding the possibility of a retirement, in the event that Brady does the unlikely and walks away. This way, ESPN can claim it was at the forefront of the reporting on the issue, even if for now ESPN really isn’t reporting anything.