Not ready to say goodbye. Tom Brady has said a lot about his retirement over the years — but he doesn’t plan to hang up his cleats anytime soon.
The NFL star, who played for the New England Patriots for 20 years before becoming a Tampa Bay Buccaneer in May 2020, has often made it clear that he’s not ready to stop playing football, even joking about his retirement in commercials. However, the oldest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl has hinted that he might keep playing until he’s at least 47.
“We’ll see how long it goes,” Brady said in November 2019 when asked if he could stay on the field into his late 40s. “Easier said than done. I know the kind of effort I am putting in right now, but what a great privilege to play a sport that I love.”
While fans are happy to hear the athlete plans to stick around the NFL a little longer, his wife, Gisele Bündchen, would like a little more clarification on the topic — and Brady understands why.
“I think my wife has, you know, held down the house for a long time now, and I think there’s things that she wants to accomplish,” he said during a September 2021 episode of his “Let’s Go” podcast. “You know, she hasn’t worked as much in the last 10, 12 years just raising our family and kind of committing to being in a life in Boston and then moving to Florida.”
The football player and Bündchen tied the knot in 2009 and welcome son Benjamin the same year. In 2012, they welcomed daughter Vivian. Brady, who also shares son Jack with ex Bridget Moynahan, has called meeting the Brazilian model the best thing that ever happened to him.
“I think the one phone call that changed my life was my friend Ed, who called me one day and he said, ‘I have this girl and I think you should call her,’” he told WSJ. Magazine in September 2021. “I ended up calling her and it ended up being the love of my life. … She didn’t pick up, actually. I had to leave a voicemail.”
While Brady has played coy on when he’ll say goodbye to his signature sport, he’s always said that spending more time with his family would be his reason for leaving.
However, walking away certainly won’t be easy for the seven-time Super Bowl champion, who’s taken home six trophies with the Patriots and one with the Bucs.
“It’s been a huge part of my life for a long time, and I love thinking about it,” he said during a February 2021 press conference. “I think football to me is much more than just a sport because there’s the physical element, there’s a mental approach, you know, how you’re going to get the job done, and there’s the emotional part.”
Whenever he does decide to go, Bündchen will be right there to support him. Following Brady’s February 2021 Super Bowl win, a source exclusively told Us Weekly that the Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life author is “over the moon proud of Tom and his accomplishments thus far.”
Keep scrolling to see what the couple has said about the California native’s future in the NFL:
“I think I’ll know when it’s time,” Brady told reporters during a pre-Super Bowl press conference in February 2021 when asked about how much longer he’ll keep playing. “I can never go into this game half-ass.”When asked whether he would play past the age of 45, the former University of Michigan quarterback replied, “Yeah, definitely. It’s a physical sport and the perspective I have on that is — you never know.” Matt Rourke/AP/Shutterstock
After Brady’s Florida team won the 2021 Super Bowl, Bündchen questioned whether he would finally be hang up his jersey. “All of a sudden, I saw my wife and I gave her a big hug,” he said during a March 2021 episode of The Late Late Show With James Corden. “And just as I did it, she said, ‘What more do you have to prove?’”His answer was simply to bring her in for a tight embrace. “I was trying to figure out a way to change the subject really quick,” he joked. Charles Sykes/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
“Beyond [next year’s season], I don’t know,” he told the Wall Street Journal Magazine in September 2021. “Maybe it’s another year after that; maybe it’s two. I’ll have to see where I’m at with my family. That’s probably the overriding factor — what I’m missing out on.” Michael Dwyer/AP/Shutterstock
Brady admitted that to accommodate his athletic aspirations, Bündchen put her career on hold and focused on their children. “But that’s an issue, and it’s a very difficult issue to reconcile without just saying, ‘Hey, it’s time to retire,’” the NFL champion revealed on an October 2021 episode of his “Let’s Go” podcast. “And I think there’s, you know, we’re coming to the end here too, so I don’t want to miss any of the kids’ stuff.” Rob Latour/Shutterstock
When teammate Rob Gronkowski asked the then 44-year-old Brady in September 2021 if he could play until he was 50 years old, the NFL MVP seemed unfazed by the idea. “I don’t find it so difficult,” he explained during an episode of the “Tommy and Gronky” YouTube series. “I think I can. I think it’s a yes.”The Ted 2 actor would later clarify his comments on an episode of his podcast that same month, explaining that the question wasn’t whether he wanted to keep playing, but whether he physically could. “So, I think from my body standpoint and how I’ve been able to take care of myself over the years, [it] can put me in a position to do that, and you never know what can happen as I keep moving forward,” he said. “I know I’m having a lot of fun playing. And again, at my age, I’ve agreed to play next year, as well, but beyond that, I'll just take it year by year.” Steven Senne/AP/Shutterstock
from Celebrity News – Us Weekly https://ift.tt/3E4g7Ex
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