Tom Brady thinks he'll feel 'relieved' when the NFL season kicks off and he's not playing
The upcoming NFL season will be the first one in 23 years without quarterback Tom Brady in the league, a seven-time Super Bowl champion that many regard as the greatest player of all time. Brady originally retired in February of 2022 for 40 days before returning for a final season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But after his retirement this year, he’s made it clear that he won’t make a return to the NFL.
Brady joined ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap on ‘Sportcenter’ Thursday, and was asked how he think he’ll feel as the NFL season nears.
“Relieved,” Brady said with enthusiasm. “I won’t have Aaron Donald trying to chase me down and knock me out, I won’t have these guys that would’ve gotten paid a lot of money to hit me and knock me on the ground.”
Brady’s success and longevity in the NFL has resulted in him holding quite a few records on the top spot of the NFL’s all-time record books. He has the most quarterback wins, pass attempts, completions, passing touchdowns, and passing yards in league history, but he also holds another record that he won’t mind not contributing to this upcoming season.
“I do have a record for being sacked more than any other quarterback in NFL history, which maybe somebody will break that record some day,” Brady said. “But I’ve got a lot of bumps and bruises to show for 23 great seasons, but I certainly won’t miss that but that’s okay, I had an amazing experience.”
Brady has been sacked a whopping 565 times in his career, which comes with the territory of playing in 335 career games and not exactly being the most mobile quarterback during his career.
But aside from no longer taking hits in the pocket, Brady also believes it’s time to pass the torch down to the league’s next generation of quarterbacks the same way other legends have done so in the past.
“And again, the game’s in great hands, it’s time for other guys to do it,” Brady said “And I saw Payton (Manning) retire, I saw these guys that I looked up to, Brett Favre retire, and now I’m just a retired NFL player. And looking forward to watching these young guys continue to be great representatives of their teams, their communities, and of their families as they move forward in their career.”