All good things must come to an end at some point.
At 40 years of age, Tom Brady knows that he’s running out of gas. Gearing up for his 19th year in the National Football League, the Patriots star quarterback sat down with Oprah Winfrey for an exclusive interview that’ll air on Sunday night on Winfrey’s network in which Brady pulled back the curtain and opened up about his thoughts on retiring from the game that has given him celebratory status.
“I think about it more now than I used to,” Brady said. “I think I’m seeing that there’s definitely an end coming sooner rather than later.”
In the past, Brady had hinted that he wanted to play well into his 40’s but seems to have refined his stance on going forward
"As long as I'm still loving it. As long as I'm loving the training and preparation and willing to make the commitment,” Brady said when asked on an exact time frame of retirement.
The five-time Super Bowl champion has given fans a look into the life of the Brady family that includes super model wife Gisele Bundchen on his “Tom vs. Time” mini series, along with his three children, and says that allocating enough time for his family will play a key part in determining how long he wants to extend his career.
“I think what I’ve alluded to a lot in the [“Tom vs. Time”] docuseries was there’s other things happening in my life, too,” Brady said. “I do have [three] kids that I love, and I don’t want to be a dad that’s not there driving my kids to their games.
I think my kids have brought a great perspective in my life because kids just want the attention. You better be there and be available to them or else they’re going to look back on their life and go, ‘Dad didn’t really care that much.’ ”
Winfrey pondered whether the rumoured rifts with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick would play a factor in deciding just how long his career will last.
"I mean, I love him. I love that he's an incredible coach, mentor for me. And he's pushed me in a lot of ways. Like everything, we don't agree on absolutely everything. But that's relationships."
While some athletes chose to let their legacy fade away by continuing to play at a lower level than their peak years, Brady wants to put Super Bowl LII loss to the Philadelphia Eagles behind him, and is seeking another ring to add to his illustrious trophy case during the tail end of his career.
“The success early in my career — we won three Super Bowls in four years — I didn’t even know what happened in my life,” he said. “We won these Super Bowls and everyone was like, ‘This is unbelievable,’ and I was like, ‘What’s going on?'”
"I still feel like I can be better, be a percentage better. I've played a long time. It's not like you go, 'Hey man, I'm going to become something different.' "
The soon to be 41-year-old come August 3rd could become only the fourth quarterback (Brett Favre, Vinny Testaverde, Warren Moon X2) to start 10 games after turning 41. He would become the first player of those three to qualify for the post-season if the Pats are once again able to reach the post-season for the tenth straight season.
The California native is coming off an MVP-worthy campaign where he threw a league-best 4,577 yards for 32 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. Brady hasn’t showed any signs of slowing down on the field, and the more he continues to enjoy life away from the gridiron, the easier that decision to hang up the cleats will be.
You wouldn’t know that by talking to him, as he sounds just as motivated to show the doubters that he can still play, just like he proved to all the scouts and executives around the league that it was a mistake to be passed over 198 times in the 2000 NFL Draft.
“I am what I am. I know my strengths. I've improved on some of the weaknesses. And I still think I want to go out there and compete and play with a bunch of 22-year-olds. It's still a lot of fun."
Nobody is going to be forcing arguably the greatest quarterback out of the league anytime soon, except for Brady himself. But that’ll be on his watch, and if he’s not going to give a straight up answer to Oprah, then good luck getting it anywhere else.
