I saw him play at U of M when I attended there(we are almost the same age). I had no idea then that he would be an all-time great. I knew he’d make the NFL, but not that he would be one of the best players of all time.
I’ve never followed his pro career other than what I’ve heard. I don’t watch the NFL.
I have to disagree with this one. Over his career he has won with a wide variety of talent at his skill positions, from very good, to “who?” If I was an opposing team and Tom Brady had 45 seconds to tie or beat us, damn straight I was worried. Also, Super Bowl LI isn’t that long ago.
Brady’s dad and Brady’s agent. His agent has updated his previous statements to be far less mealy mouthed.
Tom has called the Bucs GM to deny it.
Interesting fact I saw posted. Whether he retires now or later, Brady will be the last active pro athlete to have been drafted by the Montreal Expos.
Here’s the link from @Atamasama.
Well if he retires before Super Bowl Sunday, he will retire as the champion. There is that.
Huh.
Seven rings. Wow. I’m not sure it’s even sunk in for me yet. I don’t think anyone’s ever going to match that, and it’s absolutely not happening within my lifetime.
And…that’s about all I got. 
I remember when Barry Sanders retired. The NFL was rocked to its core. There was wailing and gnashing of teeth. Furious accusations. Protests. Hours upon hours of debate. A franchise was turned upside down overnight. Brady…like, seriously, what is there to even talk about? GOAT, overlooked 6th rounder, immortal, handsome, Evil Empire with Bill Belichick, 28-3, we’ve hashed through every bit and speck and crossed I and dotted T a hundred times by now. Hell, I haven’t heard anything about that deflated football nonsense in ages (mainly because the Colts suck and nobody gives a crap about them 
).
He can follow whatever path he wants in life now, and he’ll probably have much success because he’s not a vindictive egomaniac like Michael Jordan or a right-wing dirtbag like Curt Schilling. So I’ll be watching with a fair amount of interest. Until then, quite simply: Farewell. 
Barry Sanders retired early and was on a trajectory to surpass Sweetness. That’s why there was wailing and gnashing of teeth. With Brady, well, he certainly is not retiring early.
It’s official now:
It’s a new NFL now, without Brady.
Brady and Gronk.
Gronk came out of retirement to play with Brady. He probably is done too.
Hope both guys enjoy their retirement.
Their accomplishments will be remembered for a long time.
I wondered about that.
It’s a reasonable supposition, but no word from the team or Gronk’s camp. He’s a fine player, and it would be reasonable for him to decide he’d like to play a bit longer to get some separation from Brady’s shadow.
But maybe not. Maybe it was true love, two inseparable teammates forever, and Gronk sees no point playing if he’s not playing with Brady.
It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
I could see Gronk waiting a bit to announce, out of respect for Brady.
Aaron Rodgers 93 in 7,118 attempts = 1.31%
ETA Brady is still the GOAT
Fully agree.
But they played in different eras, and those different eras had different rules. How long would Brady have lasted in the 80s and 90s, when Lawrence Taylor could hit you as hard as he wanted, or others could essentially spear you with their helmet or hit your helmet?
Brady is the GOAT, and what he did in his career is amazing. SMH in respect to him.
Potentially walking away from the 15 million bonus can’t be easy.
Brady knows his body and what it can still do. How much more punishment it can take.
I’m curious if he transitions into media like his old rival Peyton Manning.
True, but on the other hand, he’s likely spent much of his career not being the primary source of income for his household. As the Wikipedia article on Tom’s wife, Giselle Bündchen, notes:
Between his income and his wife’s income, I think that they are probably pretty well set.
That’s really a non-story. If he retired after the 4th, the Buccs could’ve recovered the bonus anyway.
Ha! Philly’s NBC Sports affiliate tweeted “Man who could never beat Nick Foles decides to stop trying.”
So sports talk radio here in Boston is going completely nuts because Tom’s post spent paragraphs thanking everyone in Tampa Bay, but not a single sentence about the Pats, Belichick, Kraft, or the New England fans.