It doesn’t sound like we’ll be playing another game of “Will he or won’t he?” with Tom Brady this offseason.
The New England Patriots quarterback never publicly stated he was contemplating retirement last offseason, but that didn’t stop some from speculating whether he was done. Reported turmoil within the organization along with Brady’s telling comments during his Facebook series “Tom Vs. Time” only fanned those flames.
But Brady apparently is getting out in front of things this year, as he stated in his weekly Westwood One radio appearance his intentions to play in 2019.
“I absolutely believe I will (play in 2019),” Brady told Jim Gray on Monday night. “I know I’ve talked about it for a long time. I have goals to play not only next year, but beyond that, and I’m going to try to do it as best I possibly can. I’m going to give it my all like I always have.
“It’ll certainly be a challenge. I don’t take any of these things for granted. But I hope I can keep playing, and I hope I can keep playing at a championship level.”
It probably should be said that things certainly can change. Just because Brady says at the end of the regular season he intends on playing next year doesn’t make it a certainty. Then again, Brady has long stated his intention to play well into his mid-40s, which means the 41-year-old still would have a few years left.
Brady hasn’t displayed too many signs of slowing down. His 2018 performance certainly is far off his MVP pace of a season ago, but the numbers still are fairly consistent with his career averages, and we just saw New England win yet another divisional title this weekend.
So unless he has a good reason, why would Brady stop playing?
