Tom Brady knows he only can fend off Father Time for so much longer.
Brady didn't show many -- if any -- signs of decline in his first season with the Buccaneers, which concluded with Tampa Bay raising the Lombardi Trophy. The seven-time champion's impressive campaign prompted Bucs general manager Jason Licht to keep the idea of Brady playing in the NFL at 50 years old on the table.
But even the ultra-competitive Brady has a tough time envisioning reaching the half-century mark while still playing football.
"Fifty? That's a long time. Even for me, that's a long time," Brady told USA TODAY Sports. "I've always said 45 was the age that I wanted to reach and that was my goal. This year I'll be 44, so next year I'll be 45. I got a two-year contract.
"I'm going to be able to obviously play this year and God forbid anything happens but play next year and then see what happens after that. If I still want to keep playing, I might be able to do that. And if that's enough, then that would be enough."
Not only will Brady be playing this season, but he and the Bucs seemingly have as good of prospects as any other team in the league of reaching Super Bowl LVI.
