Tom Brady is retiring from the NFL after an unprecedented career in which he won seven Super Bowls and set numerous passing records, his company’s Twitter account said this morning.
The 44-year-old Brady goes out after leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title last season and NFC South championship this season.
Brady’s TB12sports Twitter account wrote; “7 Super Bowl Rings. 5 Super Bowl MVPs. 3 League MVP Awards. 22 Incredible Seasons. Thank you for it all, @TomBrady.”
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ESPN first reported Brady’s retirement today, citing unidentified sources.
Brady had cited a desire to spend more time with his wife and children despite still playing at the top of his game.
Brady led the NFL in yards passing (5,316), touchdowns (43), completions (485) and attempts (719), but the Buccaneers lost at home to the Los Angeles Rams last weekend in the divisional round.
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Brady won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots in 20 seasons playing for coach Bill Belichick.
He joined the Buccaneers in 2020 and led them to the second Super Bowl title in franchise history.
Brady leaves the games as the career leader in yards passing (84,520) and touchdowns(624).
He’s the only player to win more than five Super Bowls and was MVP of the game five times.
Widely considered the greatest quarterback to play the game, Brady won three NFL MVP awards, was a first-team All-Pro three times and was selected to the Pro Bowl 15 times.
He was 243-73 in his career in the regular season and 35-12 in the playoffs.
https://twitter.com/TB12sports/status/1487513088735731712?s=20&t=X5OrRAPPmdY1ydIubm-9Ng
Overlooked by every team coming out of Michigan, Brady was eventually selected by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft with the 199th overall pick.
He replaced an injured Drew Bledsoe as the starter in 2001 and led New England to a Super Bowl victory over the heavily favoured Rams that season.
Brady went on to lead the Patriots to Super Bowl victories over the Panthers following the 2003 season and Eagles after the 2004 season.
https://twitter.com/Edelman11/status/1487512254883012608?s=20&t=X5OrRAPPmdY1ydIubm-9Ng
No team has since repeated as champions.
But New England wouldn’t win another one for a decade, twice losing to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl, including a 17-14 defeat on February 3, 2008 that prevented the Patriots from completing a perfect season.
Brady earned his fourth ring when the Patriots held off Seattle thanks to Malcolm Butler’s interception at the goal line in the Super Bowl after the 2014 season.
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1487524265658306566?s=20&t=X5OrRAPPmdY1ydIubm-9Ng
Two years later, in the biggest Super Bowl comeback, he led the Patriots out of a 28-3 deficit in the third quarter against Atlanta to win in overtime.
After losing to the Eagles and backup quarterback Nick Foles the following year, Brady got his sixth championship when New England shut down the Rams following the 2018 season.
He joined the Buccaneers in 2020 amid a pandemic, instilling a winning culture to a franchise that hadn’t won a playoff game in 18 years.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1487519247022661642?s=20&t=X5OrRAPPmdY1ydIubm-9Ng
With his old friend Rob Gronkowski joining him in Tampa, Brady helped the Buccaneers become the first team to play in a Super Bowl in its stadium.
Naturally, Brady won again.
Brady threw more touchdown passes in his 40s (168) than in his 20s (147).
https://twitter.com/billbarnwell/status/1487520838589075470?s=20&t=X5OrRAPPmdY1ydIubm-9Ng
Highlights of Tom Brady’s NFL career:
Super Bowl appearances (10): Super Bowl 36, Super Bowl 38, Super Bowl 39, Super Bowl 42, Super Bowl 46, Super Bowl 49, Super Bowl 51, Super Bowl 52, Super Bowl 53, Super Bowl 55.
Super Bowl champion (7): Super Bowl 36, Super Bowl 38, Super Bowl 39, Super Bowl 49, Super Bowl 51, Super Bowl 53, Super Bowl 55.
Super Bowl MVP (5): Super Bowl 36, Super Bowl 38, Super Bowl 49, Super Bowl 51, Super Bowl 55.
League MVP (3): 2007, 2010, 2017.
All-Pro Teams (3): 2007, 2010, 2017.
AP Offensive Player of the Year (2): 2007, 2010.
AP Comeback Player of the Year (1): 2009.
AP Male Athlete of the Year (1): 2007.
Records (regular season): NFL all-time leader in wins (243), touchdown passes (624), passing yardage (84,520) and completions (7,263)
Records (postseason): Wins (35), passing yards (12,720), TD passes (85).
Records (Super Bowl): Led biggest comeback in Super Bowl history, overcoming 28-3 deficit for 34-28 OT win in Super Bowl 51. Most passing yards (505 in 41-33 loss in Super Bowl 52).
https://twitter.com/greggrosenthal/status/1487516730222006272?s=20&t=X5OrRAPPmdY1ydIubm-9Ng
Miscellaneous
At age 44, oldest player in league history to throw for 5,000 yards in a season.
One of four quarterbacks to defeat all 32 teams (Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Brett Favre).
Won 18 division titles (17 AFC East, 1 NFC South).
14 appearances in conference title game (13 AFC, 1 NFC).
Only player to be Super Bowl MVP for multiple teams (New England, Tampa Bay).
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