Tom Brady "Not Opposed" to Coming Back Late Next Season
April 11th, 2024 at 11:40 PM ^
His old college could use an experienced QB..
April 11th, 2024 at 11:43 PM ^
He still has his COVID year.
Does make you wonder now that paying players is effectively legal…could any pro athlete that left before using their 4 years eligibility and is nearing the end of their pro career return and play at the college level?
by NCAA regs, once you play you've got 5 yrs to complete your eligibility - of course some exceptions apply.
I checked and it turns out that one of the exceptions is indeed “drew henson”
April 12th, 2024 at 10:07 AM ^
Yep, so the rules that stopped Michael Phelps from being on Michigan's swim team during his time in Ann Arbor (that he'd previously made pro money as an Olympic swimmer) would no longer apply. IOW, I think Lebron (or any other NBA player who bypassed college entirely back when that was possible) could come play college basketball, but Brady cannot come back to play football since his 5 year clock started in the 90s.
April 12th, 2024 at 12:04 PM ^
I'm just imagining 47 year old Lebron James' college recruitment and what a spectacle he would turn it into...got dam. Haha
You never know. He always wanted to play with Bronny. Might have better luck in college than the nba.
April 12th, 2024 at 10:30 AM ^
The 5-year clock actually starts once you take your first class.
Given the mounting losses the NCAA is accumulating, I would imagine this regulation would likely fall if challenged as well.
April 11th, 2024 at 11:50 PM ^
He can walk on as "Tom Powers".
April 12th, 2024 at 12:13 AM ^
Co-starring "Frames"...
April 12th, 2024 at 12:45 AM ^
Why is this somehow making me think of Billy Joel's new song, Turn The Lights Back On.
It's late, but I'm here right now and I'm trying to find the magic that we lost somehow. Did I wait too long to turn the lights back on?
April 12th, 2024 at 12:56 AM ^
Brady saw Flacco and said I’m better than him. If he can do it i can do it. Brady for 3-4 games could be lethal. Imagine if he won another Super Bowl filling in for a team at the end of the season.
April 12th, 2024 at 11:20 AM ^
This would be nuts but also awesome, and I hope he doesn't do it, but goddamn it if he does there's no topping that.
I love Brady, but please make it stop already. Go retire and have a great rest of your life Tom. It's done. Move on.
100%. how will we miss you if you never go away?
This.
He has done A LOT in his professional career. There's nothing left to do, nothing left to prove. Go enjoy retirement, Tom!
Maybe even make an appearance at Michigan football games? Just a suggestion....
I’m not opposed to wishing he stayed retired if he can’t put this foolish notion out of his head.
When I was a kid, I watched Johnny Unitas play in person (if you don't know who he was, please go look him up--by far the greatest QB of his time, in an era that will never return). I didn't see him in Baltimore (for the Colts), but in San Diego (currently, home of a loyal fan base with, alas, no team) where he went to finish out his career and basically retired while drawing a paycheck.
I'm glad I could see him, but that was not "Johnny U" on the field. That was a (relatively) old guy still throwing on a jersey in his 18th season so that a bad team could sell more tickets. I respect that this was a wise business decision on all sides, but Tom doesn't need the paycheck, and sometimes you have to learn to let go.
Give it a rest Tom. Enjoy the ceremony on 6/12 at Gillette and call it a day. Must know that he's not going to do well as an analyst. Come back to the Pats only to mentor JJ if they draft him.
It's not clear whether he is going to do well as an analyst. It's likely that Fox overpaid, and that Brady won't have the dedication and commit for ten years of duty. I've been wrong about Brady before though. Happy to be wrong again.
April 12th, 2024 at 10:30 AM ^
Chances are slim any of this will happen.
But if it did, it would be because the ownership logistics were worked out and that he was good enough to see the field.
Brady would have little concern of the legacy image others wish for him to maintain in their minds.
And then we would all watch in wishful curiosity.
Just let Brady do what he wants to do given his opportunities. Owners know they can't rely on a guy 45+ for everything.
and a real chance to tarnish his legacy.
as great as he is, he'd be walking into a team he has zero chemistry with, pushing another QB out of the way causing resentment in some parts of the locker room, and having to learn an entirely new offense and all the minute quirks/calls/players' tendencies in a matter of weeks. if anyone could do it, sure, #12 can. but just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.
April 12th, 2024 at 10:35 AM ^
Legacy is an ego thing we have for Brady.
Brady's ego is more about competition and winning.
I had no problem with Jordan when the same arguments came out when he played with the Wizards. "Oh the legacy, the legacy". No one talks much about that part of career, but still... Jordan stayed in shape, learned some things about himself mentally and how to relate to the new generation. He dunked, scored 40 over 40. It sold some tickets. It was fine.
Why we care about this says more about us than Brady. Let whatever unfold.
Sounds like Brett Favre on ice
Tom, just leave well enough alone, please.
Seriously, just enjoy a career well-played and do whatever the hell you want to do in retirement. Don't be Brett Favre.
(checks latest stories)
REALLY don't be Brett Favre.
What, can't a guy run out of new people to show his dick to in retirement?
It's a sham, man. You work, and you work, and you work, and you look forward to that light at the end of the tunnel. And then you get there, and they pull the rug out from underneath you, and suddenly sending unsolicited genital pictures to women half your age is "bad."
I have no doubts that Tom can come back this year and be a top 15 QB in the league, instantly turning some random team into a threat. I also have no doubts that he should not. Enjoy the retirement knowing the legendary status is in full glory, and not tarnished by some half-hearted comeback attempt that people will take out of context.
If your bored and maybe need some football in your life, I'm sure Kirk Campbell would appreciate some help with his QB room. You know, just spend a day or two with them every now and then, not a full time coaching gig. Show up, throw some pointers at them, talk to them. I think that would go miles with the entire team. Not to mention recruiting...
I see a lot of people saying this is a bad idea, but if the Lions are having another great season and Goff gets hurt late…I wouldn’t be mad to see Brady suit up as a Lion for the playoffs.
That would be interesting. If your starter goes down as the playoffs begin and your choices are:
A) The 47-year-old with seven rings who can't make all the throws anymore, but knows more about winning than anyone and can probably deal with the speed of the game.
B) A third-rounder from two years ago who missed his entire rookie season with an injury.
C) A backup in his ninth year who was drafted in the sixth round and has never won an NFL game.
Flacco was almost a decade younger. With the exception of the one Super Bowl season, he was an average starter in the league whose value as a backup was simply in being able to run a playbook that had some downfield in it, and only throwing twice as many interceptions as a good quarterback would. Which is why the Browns went out, 45-14, to a team that got smoked the following week.
However, starting the year with Brady? Not a good idea. The speculation is only interesting in the exact situation Flacco was in.
Well he has shed about 125 pounds or so recently.
Took me a minute to get it, then I almost spit out my coffee. Thank you for that humorous start to my day.
I, too, have recently shed a large amount of unwanted baggage.
Can really improve your health. All weight lost is good weight, so they say.
April 12th, 2024 at 10:03 AM ^
is good humor, hat tip to romeo. that said, there would have to be some really-to-the-5th power good reasons to walk away from her and the children. don't know the inner workings of any of that, but it is a shame no matter the cause.
Seems mutual. Terrible either way.
Tom, it’s your buddy RedRum. We were in college together. You won a Natty out right. Sleep in, fornicate, work out, read a paper etc. if you have to be in sports, coach. Coming back to the NFL is a big mistake. Remember Jordan on the wizards? It was sad.
I used to see this all the time. People often define themselves by their careers, and when they retire they sorta lose a part of themselves.
Imagine if your sense of self was “the best QB in history”; you retire…now what? Tom Brady famously went above and beyond to be able to play football for as long as he did. Now he’s got a whoooooole lotta time for thinking.
Some people just can’t be alone with their own thoughts. Especially if those thoughts involve the glory days of your playing career, and doubly so if you still have that chip on your shoulder and see the dogshit QB play that some teams have gotten recently.
It’s a whole lot easier to accept that your time has passed when you see the kids outperforming anything you’re capable of; a lot less easy when the kids are out there embarrassing themselves.
Retirement is complicated. You can’t just turn off a switch that’s defined who you are for a couple decades. That’s why I always tell people that you need to retire TO something, not FROM something.
Plus, he has the experience of stepping away from a fading Patriots team and electrifying the Bucs to a Super Bowl win at, what, 43 years old? Gotta give him credit for believing in himself. Can’t give him credit for knowing to leave well enough alone, though.
April 12th, 2024 at 10:39 AM ^
Having failed at retiring 3 times, I can verify that your advice about retiring TO something is 100% correct.
🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐
"I'm not opposed to it"
Translation: I'm bored to death being retired and I don't have anything else in my life that really interests me full-time.
"I don't know if they are going to let me if I become an owner of an NFL team."
Why the hell would the NFL actively try to prevent that? JFC, can he be any worse than Dan Snyder or Haslam or York or McCaskey?
He's saying he couldn't come back and play if he was an owner. Not that they don't want him to become an owner....
Don’t leave the Fords off that list. While they aren’t as malignant as the others you mentioned, they’ve demonstrated staying power in the field of incompetence.
If you watch the clip, he's getting his hair cut and BSing with the barber. It was posed to him as a hypothetical question and he was like, sure why not? I don't read much into this.
April 12th, 2024 at 11:14 AM ^
Same here. Shooting the shit in the barber shop is an art form and is universally understood by everyone in the room for what it is.
April 12th, 2024 at 10:08 AM ^
Everybody loved it when Michael Jordan came out of retirement to play with the Wizards, right? What could go wrong?
April 12th, 2024 at 10:35 AM ^
There wasn’t really anything bad about Jordan’s time with the Wizards. He was still a good player, just no longer at a GOAT level. But he was also several years younger than Brady is now.