Tom Brady takes a break finally

The Game Room
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Finally had some time to hash this out. Mainly I find this decision baffling. This isn’t a case of a prideful jock completely unprepared to deal with the inevitable end and desperately clinging to the only reality he’s ever known. He’s ridiculously popular, gets showered with gushing praise everywhere he goes, and is practically a prince in Massachusetts; there are a hundred ways he can remain rich, powerful, and in the limelight once his football career is over. And it can’t be a cheap ploy to get attention. He already has all the attention; he’s had it for over two decades now. Trolling the ownership/media/backup QB? The system’s been nothing but triumph and glory and joy and beauty for him, right up to the point where he went to Tampa Bay and immediately won another Super Bowl with them; why would he have a beef with anybody?

Seriously, what the hell is Tom Brady getting out of this? Him waffling over whether he wants to keep playing is like Stone Cold Steve Austin waffling over whether he wants another beer.

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My suspicion is that it’s a matter of competitiveness, and discovering, once he had retired, that he had no good outlet for it. Most athletes of that caliber have extremely competitive personalities, to the point that, without their sport, they struggle to figure out an outlet for it – as two examples, Michael Jordan and Brett Favre both had a hard time dealing with retirement, and came back at least once as a result.

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I wonder if the parody videos I linked to have some small bit of truth to them. Can’t handle domestic life.

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When you have enough money, you don’t have to.

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He enjoys playing and he believes he can still do it. I think it’s as simple as that.

Other than just the physical breakdown that happens to most players, it seems that most get to the point that they are sick of all the off the field work needed. And that gets harder not easier as you get older. I think Brady genuinely likes doing the 365 days a year work needed to stay competitive. If he can still do it and still be effective why stop?

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It might be like someone who ends their enlistment in the military, is honorably discharged, and after spending a bit of time in civilian life can’t stand it and wants to enroll in the military again. They miss the comradery of their fellow servicemen, miss the structure, or just miss the service.

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For Tom Brady it’s a lifestyle that he lives even when not around football. He is still living it when away from football. His structure is self-imposed and beyond what the team requires. He lives it when there are no teammates around. If he didn’t enjoy the off season lifestyle he wouldn’t have been able to maintain it for so long. Few do. He loves winning. But he also loves doing everything he does to maintain his level. I think people are looking way too deep at things. He’s able to do what he loves and someone wants to pay him to do it. Why wouldn’t he do it?

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Indeed so.

We all probably know somebody who had to be forced to retire from work and had nothing else to live for. I find that inconceivable, but there are a lot of people like that and we don’t question it.

I don’t find it difficult at all to believe Tom Brady is also like that. There are probably other NFL players like that (Brett Favre comes to mind). Their spirits are willing but no flesh survives the NFL meat grinder forever.

It’s just that Tom Brady’s body, by virtue of his constant conditioning and no small amount of luck and the emphasis of protection for QBs, has not broken down to the point he can no longer compete. The only other non-QB players who stand a good chance of playing into their 40s these days are kickers and we have seen a couple of those as well.

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And, interestingly, offensive linemen. This page from the Pro Football Hall of Fame lists every NFL player who played at age 40 and above; while it is, indeed, primarily quarterbacks, kickers, and punters, there’s also a handful of offensive linemen in the past few decades who’ve played into their 40s (Ray Brown, Jackie Slater, Bruce Matthews).

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To go slightly conspiracy theory here, maybe he’s pissed that Mike Evans tossed his last touchdown pass into the stands instead of bringing it back to Brady as a memento. This last season is his way of getting that ball for his trophy case.

Of course, we’d have to ignore the fact that Brady probably has $600K under his couch cushions and could have just bought it if he wanted it. Maybe he’s just cheap and unwilling to spend money if he doesn’t need to.

Laugh now, but you’ll all see I’m right when he retires again after his first TD.

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My WAG is that being an O-lineman is as much technique as it is physical ability, (assuming you have the right body type to begin with; a scrawny short guy just physically can’t do it at all). And an older O-lineman is extremely valuable as a leader on that line, because they need to watch the defense and effectively communicate with their colleagues so that nobody leaves a hole or misses a key block. Those are the qualities I hear about all the time when talking heads discuss veteran guards, tackles, and centers. Not how athletic they are, really, but how smart they are and how well they help coordinate everyone else.

That’s also why it’s so hard for a rookie to do well on the O-line, probably more than any other position in football.

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This is Brady we’re talking about, I could see Rodgers doing that… :laughing:

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He could buy that ball now for a fraction of the price. Then he can re-retire.

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I’m not sure the buyer would part with it for cheap. A guy with $520K to spend on a football wouldn’t have any trouble hiring someone to Gillooly Brady’s kneecap and end his last season before it starts.

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There is a fairly explosive (if I can co-opt a sports copywriting term) article today in the Boston Globe detailing the alleged machinations behind Brady’s non-retirement and return. I wish I could give a gift link, but that doesn’t seem to be an option.

The general outline is:

Brady’s change of heart was the result of a fascinating fall of dominos involving the Miami Dolphins, Sean Payton, Brian Flores’s lawsuit, former Patriots offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger, and a Manchester United soccer match. If Brady had his way, he would have been running — and potentially quarterbacking — one of the Patriots’ division rivals. Instead, a series of unforeseen events led him back to Tampa.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross presented Brady with a golden opportunity to get into the business of the NFL. Per the league source, Brady was going to be given a position high in the Miami front office, similar to Derek Jeter’s former position with the Miami Marlins. Florio reported Thursday that the Dolphins were going to introduce Brady as a minority owner the week before the Super Bowl.

The Dolphins’ offer was just Brady’s way of getting out of Tampa. He was under contract with the Buccaneers as a player, but they couldn’t stop him from becoming an executive. Once Brady was in Miami, and once the Buccaneers had found a replacement at quarterback, the Dolphins could have approached the Bucs about trade compensation to let Brady come out of retirement and play quarterback.

Apparently, bring Sean Payton in to coach the Dolphins was part of this plan, leading to Flores’ ouster.

On the morning of Feb. 1, Brady announced his retirement — except that he never actually used that word. He said he was “not going to make that competitive commitment anymore.” His choice of words was deliberate.

Just hours later, on Feb. 1, Flores filed his lawsuit against the Dolphins and the NFL alleging racial discrimination, as well as making explosive allegations against Ross of trying to lose games intentionally and of tampering with a certain star quarterback.

The lawsuit messed up everything, per the source. The plan to hire a white coach and a white team president without going through the Rooney Rule probably wouldn’t fly once the Dolphins were sued for racial discrimination.

Flores’s accusations of tanking and tampering put the issue of cellphones and discovery at play for Ross and Brady. The lawsuit simply brought too much heat to the situation, and Ross and Brady had to call off the arrangement.

I have no idea if any of this is true, there is no hard evidence presented in the article. But if it is true, it’s pretty amazing that Bill Belichick’s mistaken text to Flores instead of Daboll blew up Brady’s Miami plan :exploding_head:

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Does it say what Miami would have done with Tua?

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No, it says nothing about Tua.

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Seems very close to this older conspiracy theory.

This article mentions both the 49ers and Dolphins conspiracy theories.

I don’t know how much truth there is to any of it.

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Confirmation bias for me: The theory would confirm my belief that Brady’s a conniving little shit.

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It seemed more fitting to resurrect this thread instead of starting a new one - Tom Brady has retired again:

He posted a 50 second video on Twitter this morning. The rampant speculation on Boston sports talk radio now is whether he’ll be working for Fox sports at the Super Bowl.