As Tom Brady embarks on his 23rd NFL season, the football world continues to wonder if this is his swan song.
Appearing Thursday on the Rich Eisen Show, former New England Patriots teammate Willie McGinest said he can see Brady retiring for good if he captures his eighth Super Bowl title.
“I think if he wins it, it could be,” McGinest said when asked if this is Brady’s final year. “He will walk off into the sunset complete and feel like he did what he came back to do.”
Yet he noted that Brady gave himself a “little bit of cushion” to come back in 2023 by signing a restructured two-year deal in May.
While Brady is the league’s oldest player at age 45, Eisen noted that he looks like a 25-year-old on the field. The former Patriots linebacker said Brady could be tempted to keep going as long as he’s performing at a high level.
“I think Tom is loyal to the game,” McGinet continued. “He loves the game. He has a lot of football left, he knows that. It’s just hard to walk off when you have so much left.”
He added that dedicating himself so fully to football has forced Brady and his family to make personal sacrifices. That could prompt him to consider his priorities, and McGinest believes any post-playing career opportunities will “wait for Tom Brady.”
Brady ended the 2020 season with a championship and posted an NFL-high 5,316 passing yards and 43 passing touchdowns last year. As of now, it’s not of matter of whether he can still flourish on the gridiron.
Brady will first focus on the 2022 season, which continues with a Week 2 matchup against a New Orleans Saints team that shut out his Buccaneers last December.