On the occasion of the Second Annual Tom Brady Retirement, many are wondering whether this one will take.
There’s a reason to think it will, if we’re will to suspend disbelief and accept as truthful the things said by Brady himself. (Then again, Brady has said that 90 percent of the things he says can’t be believed.)
During the December 26 edition of his Let’s Go! podcast, Brady said, “Well, I think next time I decide to retire, that’s it for me. So whenever that day comes, we’ll figure it out.”
Brady added that he won’t spend time thinking about retirement until after the season ends, at which time he plans to take his time.
“I think what I really realized last year was you gotta be really sure to do that,” Brady said. “I’m going to take my time whenever that time does come.”
So he took all of 16 days from the completion of his last game to his announcement. That doesn’t seem like a lot of time, especially if he truly didn’t contemplate retirement during the season.
Four weeks earlier, Brady said after an overtime loss to the Browns, “I’d rather lose and play than not play at all.” Given that the Buccaneers had only six regular-season games remaining at the time, Brady sounded like someone who was inclined to keep going.
Of course, nothing he has said is binding. He can retire and unretire and re-retire and pre-retire. Some won’t truly believe he’s done for good until one (or maybe two) full seasons go by without him playing.