Tom Brady's father reveals surprising reason behind first retirement decision
According to Tom Brady‘s father, Tom Sr., the NFL legend didn’t necessarily want to step away when he announced his retirement six weeks ago. Following the Tampa Bay quarterback’s return announcement, Brady Sr. told 7News reporter Dan Hausle that his son felt “pressured by outside forces” to walk away from the game.
It’s not very surprising considering Brady opted to leave that game while still clearly playing at an elite level. In 2021, he threw for a league-high 5,316 yards with a career-high 43 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions. He led the Bucs to the NFC title game before losing to the L.A. Rams.
Tom Brady isn’t the first legendary quarterback to come out of retirement following an initial decision. Green Bay Packers star Brett Favre announced he planned to retire following the 2007 season but found himself back the next year. Hopefully, Brady accomplishes more in his comeback than Favre did.
The signs for Brady’s return were there. The Buccaneers told the quarterback that they’d “leave the light on” for him and Brady himself never sounded certain about his decision.
“You know, I’m just gonna take things as they come,” Brady said after his “retirement.” “I think that’s the best way to put it and I don’t think anything, you know, you never say never. At the same time I know that I’m very, I feel very good about my decision. I don’t know how I’ll feel six months from now, [inaudible] change, it most likely won’t. But I try to make the best possible decision I can in the moment, which I did this last week. And, again, I think it’s not looking to reverse course, I’m definitely not looking to do that. But in the same time I think you have to be realistic that you never know what challenges there are gonna be in life. Again, I loved playing. I’m looking forward to doing things other than playing.”
Jalen Ramsey has hilarious reaction to Tom Brady news
While many fans and Buccaneers players will find great joy in the decision, Los Angeles Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey is among the happiest people about Tom Brady’s choice.
“Thank you!” Ramsey posted on Twitter. “Throw that last touchdown on somebody else.”
Brady threw the final touchdown pass of his career, or at least many thought, on Jan. 23 versus the Los Angeles Rams. Wideout Mike Evans caught the 55-yard touchdown pass over Jalen Ramsey and the cornerback express great regret about his place in history.
With another season in Tom Brady’s career comes at least 17 more games to complete a touchdown pass against a cornerback other than Jalen Ramsey.