After days of speculation, Tom Brady has made if official. The football legend announced his retirement.
Brady ends his career having played in 10 Super Bowls winning seven of them. And, during a career that nearly lasted until the age of 45 the quarterback earned nearly $300 million just from his New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers contracts.
That's well below what he could have earned had he demanded market-appropriate salaries. Brady, however, always took less than he could get in order to help his team have more money to spend on other players. (And, of course, he made tens, if not hundreds of millions off the field and has a wealthy supermodel wife in Gisele Bündchen.)
Brady made his retirement official in an Instagram post.
“I have always believed the sport of football is an ‘all-in’ proposition—if a 100% competitive commitment isn't there, you won't succeed, and success is what I love so much about our game,” Brady wrote on his Instagram page. “There is a physical, mental, and emotional challenge EVERY single day that has allowed me to maximize my highest potential. And I have tried my very best these past 22 years. There are no shortcuts to success on the field or in life.
“This is difficult for me to write, but here it goes: I am not going to make that competitive commitment anymore. I have loved my NFL career, and now it is time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention.”
Is Brady the Greatest Of All Time?
Debates about the greatest anything of all time are highly subjective and can be argued about for hours. But over his 22-year career, Brady has racked up a number of achievements that only his most begrudging haters would deny.
"He tallied five Super Bowl MVP trophies along with six All-Pro selections, and 15 Pro Bowl nods. In 2009, he won Comeback Player of the Year, returning from a torn ACL the year before," as noted by Sports Illustrated, which named him Sportsperson of the Year in 2005 and 2021. He also gets to go out on a high, with 5,316 yards and 43 touchdown for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021.
Additionally, he has set or broken a number of NFL records, "including completions (7,263), touchdowns (624), passing yards (84,520), and quarterback wins (243). In 2021, he set a league record with 485 completions in a single-season."
He will be eligible for the Hall of Fame starting in 2027.
Rumors that Brady would be retiring first began heating up when ESPN's Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington began reporting on over the past weekend.
The report was criticized, but ESPN, which is owned by Walt Disney (DIS), backed its reporters.
Brady Wants to Be the Crypto Quarterback
Brady hadn't elaborated yet on what else might require his attention, but as we reported earlier today, he has plenty of irons in the fire.
Along with his wife, he is an ambassador for FTX Trading, a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2019 and raised $400 million from big venture capital names such as Softbank, Temasek, Tiger Global and others. Both Brady and Bundchen are currently starring in an advertising campaign for the exchange.
Brady is no stranger to the advertising world, and some observers have noticed he seems a bit more comfortable flashing a sense of humor since he began playing for the Bucs, as his spot for T-Mobile (TMUS) last year found him parodying the retirement rumors which have been surrounding him for years.
Brady was only the 17th highest-paid player in the NFL during the 2021 season, "tied with Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett at $25 million each." According to celebritynetworth.com, it is estimated his net worth is close to $250 million.
