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Now It's Official: Tom Brady Announces His Retirement
After a weekend of reports, speculation and rumors surrounding his future plans, Tom Brady has officially announced his retirement.
The future Hall of Fame quarterback declared in a lengthy social media post Tuesday morning that he has decided to hang up his cleats after 22 seasons following a week of reflection.
"This is difficult for me to write, but here it goes: I am not going to make that competitive commitment anymore," Brady wrote. "I have loved my NFL career, and now it is time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention."
The announcement comes three days after multiple outlets reported that Brady, who led the league in both passing yards (5,316) and passing touchdowns (43) in 2021 (the second time in his career he's led the NFL in both categories in the same season after also doing it in 2007), planned to retire.
Brady's statement went on to say, in part: "I've done a lot of reflecting the past week and have asked myself difficult questions. And I am so proud of what we have achieved. My teammates, coaches, fellow competitors, and
fans deserve 100 percent of me, but right now, it's best I leave the field of play to the next generation of dedicated and committed athletes.
"To my Bucs teammates the past two years, I love you guys, and I have loved going to battle with you. You have dug so deep to challenge yourself, and it inspired me to wake up every day and give you my best. I am always here for you guys and want to see you continue to push yourselves to be your best. I couldn't be happier with what we accomplished together."
And with that, Brady's career comes to an end.
A member of the Hall of Fame all-decades teams from both the 2000s and 2010s, Brady retires as the NFL's all-time leader in passing yards (84,520), passing touchdowns (624) and completed passes (7,263). Brady retires after 47 career playoff games, most all-time and 15 more than the next-closest player in former Patriots teammate Adam Vinatieri. His 318 regular season appearances are seventh-most all-time.
Brady had been attempting to lead the Buccaneers to back-to-back Super Bowl titles, something no team had accomplished since Brady's Patriots in 2003-04.
Over 285 appearances with New England, including 283 starts, Brady went 219-64, plus 30-11 in the postseason and 6-3 in Super Bowls. He won MVP honors with the Patriots in 2007, 2010 and 2017, though didn't win the Super Bowl in any of those seasons. Brady was MVP in Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, XLIX and LI with New England and LV in Tampa Bay.
Next stop: The NFL Hall of Fame in five years.