Tom Brady is in the midst of his 20th (!) season in the NFL. He’s a six-time Super Bowl champion, has won three league MVPs and four Super Bowl MVP awards and is a 14-time Pro Bowl selection.
Brady also has been married to supermodel Gisele Bundchen since 2009 and shares two children with her, Benjamin and Vivian.
So why, at 42 years old, does he still continue to play? Allow Brady to explain to his former teammate, Randy Moss in an exclusive interview with ESPN prior to Monday night’s game against the New York Jets.
“That’s a good question. I think for me, one it is the love of the game,” Brady told the now-NFL analyst, as transcribed by WEEI’s Ryan Hannable. “I enjoy it. Football is my first love. I sit here and think, ‘If I wasn’t playing football, what would I be doing?’ I can’t find an answer to that. It’s like why not keep doing what I am doing?”
Brady credited his wife, children and family for making sacrifices in order to support him throughout his career.
“I think there are a lot of people that have made sacrifices in their life to support me — my wife, my kids, my family. They are getting a little bit older, so it isn’t going to last forever.”
Wait. What do you mean it won’t “last forever?”
“You know, it will come. It is getting closer,” Brady said. “We’re close to the end. It is not going to go on forever. I am enjoying it. For me, at this point, it is really about the relationships. The people who I play for, the people who I play with, that is what I am enjoying.”
Brady previously has mentioned his desire to play until he’s 45 years old. And while “getting closer” certainly could mean in the next three years, it’s still weird to imagine a Patriots team without Brady under center sooner rather than later.
