In the twilight of his career, Tom Brady has increasingly mastered the art of saying a lot while seemingly saying nothing at all.
Exhibit A: Thursday's Tampa Bay Buccaneers news conference.
First, a quick history lesson. A couple of months ago, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk detailed how Brady nearly joined the Miami Dolphins as a player/minority owner. Basically, according to Florio and other credible reporters, Brady retired with the intention of immediately purchasing a stake in the Dolphins, who later would've worked out a way to acquire the superstar quarterback's playing rights from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sean Payton, who also retired this offseason, would've joined Brady in South Beach, forming a dynamic quarterback-head coach duo. However, the lawsuit brought against the NFL by Brian Flores, who also accused Dolphins owner Stephen Ross of offering financial incentivization to lose games, threw everything out of whack. With the Dolphins' front office in a state of uncertainty, Brady wanted to stay clear of the mess and instead made things right with the Bucs, eventually ending his quasi-retirement and returning to Tampa. There reportedly still is a chance of Brady joining the Dolphins in some capacity next year, but, for now, he's a Buccaneer.
Got all that? Good.
Well, Brady was asked point-blank about the rumors Wednesday, and he sure as heck didn't deny them.
"I mean it's, again, I had a lot of conversations with a lot of people, as I've had for the last three or four years in my career about different opportunities when I'm doing playing with football," Brady told reporters in Tampa. "So, I kinda made a decision of what I'd like to do and, um, I'll get to be in the game of football.
"I think, for me, the most important thing is where I'm at now and what I hope to do for this team. That's been my commitment to this team and this organization. ... I've got a long life ahead and, you know, there's a lot of fun things to do ahead. I'm looking forward to what's ahead -- in football."
That's a yes.
Of course, Brady now knows what lies ahead once his playing days are over. The future Hall of Famer will join FOX Sports as a lead NFL analyst on the richest contract in sports broadcasting history.
How, if at all, that will affect his alleged (now confirmed?) plans of joining the Dolphins is anyone's guess. One thing we know for sure: Brady will manage to stay in the spotlight and keep things interesting.
