Brady announced his retirement on Wednesday.
The greatest quarterback of all time announced his retirement on Wednesday morning, and this time it will be “for good.” This means that Tom Brady’s next stop will be Canton, Ohio: he is a lock to be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, taking his rightful place among the best players the NFL has ever seen.
When will he do that, though? Per rules, players have to wait five years before being eligible.
For Brady, this means he will be on the ballot for the first — and only — time in 2028. He will be joined by another lock to make it into the Hall of Fame that year, recently retired J.J. Watt.
At that point, of course, Brady will already be part of another Hall of Fame. Per the franchise’s own rules, he will be eligible to enter the New England Patriots’ team Hall of Fame by 2027. Needless to say that he will be a first-year enshrinee.
The real question is whether or not the club will change its rules for the greatest player to ever wear a Patriots uniform, and enshrine him as early as this summer. It would be unorthodox, but understandable given Brady’s contributions during his two decades with the franchise.