Tom Brady Sounds Serious About Playing Until He's 45: 'Why Would I Stop Now?'

Amid his gushing about Tom Brady’s “pliability” on “Monday Night Football,” ESPN color commentator Jon Gruden revealed an interesting nugget about the New England Patriots quarterback: that Brady told him and play-by-play man Sean McDonough he wants to play until he’s 45 years old.

It turns out that’s anything but a throwaway line.

In his weekly appearance on WEEI’s “Kirk And Callahan,” Brady admitted he’s intent on playing another five-plus years.

“I think that — they kind of brought that up and I said that would be a great goal,” Brady said, via WEEI.com. “I certainly think I can do it. It’s just about how long I want to make the commitment to doing the things that get me ready to go.

“Look, I love playing. I would love to play the game for as long as I can. There are a lot of things that aren’t up to me, but I am going to do everything I can to keep playing at this level for as long as I can. I think I can do it.”

Brady, who turned 39 in August, is under contract until 2019. If he’s still playing in 2022, he’ll make history, as no quarterback has started an NFL game at age 45. But the Patriots quarterback is playing at an MVP-caliber level at an age when Peyton Manning barely could complete a pass, and he shows no signs of slowing down.

Brady himself even mentioned playing to “seven or eight more years” in a 2014 email to a childhood friend that was leaked during Deflategate. At the moment, it certainly appears he’s on that track.

“Why would I stop now?” Brady added. “I’ve worked to get to this point and this is I think when I can really capitalize and really try to make the most of everything that I have learned over the years with who I have been fortunate to be around. If I can keep doing it, I certainly think I can.”