He did it, folks! Tom Brady has finally retired. Again.
The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback made his announcement on Wednesday, February 1, with an Instagram video that is, to his credit, very self-aware.
“Good morning, guys,” he starts. “I’ll get to the point straight away. I’m retiring.” He takes a beat. “For good.” (Brady made his first retirement announcement in January 2022, but ultimately reversed his decision two months later. )
“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,” Brady continued. “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 on 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.”
The selfie video appears to be filmed from the shores of a Florida beach, with stacks of white condos looming large over his shoulder. Honestly, it seems like a very peaceful place for making big life decisions. He captioned the video with simple declarations: “I love my family. I love my teammates. I love my friends. I love my coaches. I love football. I love you all. I am truly grateful on this day. Thank you 🙏🏻❤️.”
The comments section was littered with goat emoji, as well as well-wishes from fellow athletes, including Serena Williams, who announced her own retirement last year. “I’m getting teary eyed watching this,” wrote Williams. “Sad to see you go. Welcome to the retirement world…. Again 😜”
The subject of Brady’s retirement has been a contentious topic over the past few months, especially amid the fallout from his very public separation from supermodel Gisele Bündchen, who filed for divorce six months after his decision to come out of retirement. Brady appeared to bristle about the subject just last week, giving an expletive filled nonanswer in a podcast interview.
