NFL legend, Tom Brady has announced his retirement from the sport in a 52-second video posted to social media.
The greatest quarterback to ever play the game announced Wednesday for a second time that he was retiring.
A tearful Brady was sitting beachside when he made the announcement in a video on his Instagram page Wednesday morning.
‘Good morning guys. I’ll get to the point right away. I’m retiring, for good,’ the quarterback said in the video.
‘I know the process was a pretty big deal last time so when I woke up this morning I figured I’d just press record and let you guys know first. I won’t be long-winded.
‘You only get one super emotional retirement essay and I used mine up last year, so… really, thank you guys so much to every single one of you for supporting me.
‘My family, my friends, my teammates, my competitors. I could go over forever, there’s too many. Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream. I wouldn’t change a thing. Love you all.’
Brady reportedly ‘informed the Bucs today at 6:00am he’d be retiring,’ according to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington.
This announcement also comes one year to the day that Brady briefly retired before the 2022 season, but it lasted just 40 days as he sought one last Super Bowl run.
Across 20 seasons in New England, Brady took the Patriots to the AFC Championship game thirteen times and the Super Bowl nine times. He won seven Super Bowl titles – six of which came in New England.
He was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 1999 NFL draft with the 199th overall pick – earning the reputation as the greatest steal in the history of the draft.
Brady hangs up his cleat as a seven-time Super Bowl champion, a five-time Super Bowl MVP, a three-time league MVP, a 15-time Pro Bowler, a three-time First-Team All-Pro selection and the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, quarterback wins and pass completions.
His last year ended with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffering a 31-14 defeat to the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
Brady could be set to head to the TV booth having previously agreed a ten year deal worth $375m to become lead NFL analyst for Fox Sports once he had retired.
Just last night, Brady was seen at a premiere of the movie ’80 for Brady’ in Los Angeles.
To say this has been an emotional and tumultuous season for Brady would be an understatement, Daily Mail believes.
On the field, Brady suffered the first losing season of his 23-year-long NFL career as his Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad fell to an 8-9 record.
Off the field, he finalized a highly-publicized divorce from his now-ex-wife and supermodel Giselle Bundchen.
Bundchen and Brady were married for 13 years before their divorce was finalized in October of 2022.
Rumors speculated that Bundchen was concerned about the sport’s impact on Brady’s health – reportedly delivering him an ultimatum to retire, otherwise their marriage would end.
