It wouldn’t be Super Bowl week if Tom Brady wasn’t asked when he’ll finally retire and give the rest of the NFL a chance.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback previously set 45 years old as his target retirement age. Brady, 43, is still feeling good, so he said Monday that he could envision himself playing beyond 2023.
“Yeah, definitely,” Brady said. “I would definitely consider that. It’s a physical sport. Just the perspective that I have on that is you never know when that moment is, just because it’s a contact sport. There’s a lot of training that goes into it. It has to be 100 percent commitment from myself to keep doing it.
“I’ve been very fortunate over the years. (Trainer) Alex (Guerrerro) and I work really hard at making sure physically I can still perform at my best because you take different hits, over the course of the year deal with different bumps and bruises, different injuries and so forth. It’s just going to be me continuing to make that commitment to making it part of my year-round process to play football and continue my career.”
Brady seems to know when he’ll realize it’s time to retire, and clearly he has not hit that point yet.
“When to walk away, that’s a good question,” Brady said. “I think I’ll know when it’s time. So, I don’t know when that time will come but I think I’ll know, and I’ll understand that I gave everything I could to get to this game. You put a lot into it. I don’t think I can ever go at this game half-assed. I’ve got to put everything into it.
“When I put it all out there and I feel like I can’t do that anymore, I don’t feel like I can commit to the team in the way that the team needs me, then I think that’s probably time to walk away.”
Brady is still playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL despite his age. He ranked fourth among QBs in EPA/play, ninth in QBR and passer rating, second in passing touchdowns and third in yards in 2020 while playing his first season with the Buccaneers. He’ll play in his 10th career Super Bowl on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.
