Tom Brady believes he could still make a successful return to the NFL, even nearly three years after retiring. The former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback officially stepped away from the sport in February 2023, after briefly retiring the year before and returning for one final season.
Even though Brady, 48, has not played for almost three years, he thinks his skills have not gone rusty. Appearing on the latest episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, he told hosts former professional basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, 53, and TV personality Adam Lefkoe, 38: “I could go out there and play. Give me a month. I mean, I could go play with anybody.”
© Getty ImagesBrady credits looking after himself for still being fit enough to play American football at a professional level. The seven-time Super Bowl winner said: “I took care of my body. I could do it all.”
However, Brady noted that he was ready to slow down. He added: “And what I wouldn’t want to do is make the commitment to play. It’s like a basketball season; do you really want to commit to playing 82 games? “That takes a lot of training, and I don’t want to do that.”
Brady played 20 seasons for the New England Patriots before the curtain fell on his illustrious career with three seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In February 2022, he retired, but returned to the field 40 days later because he was not ready to end his career.
© GettyImagesBrady, who divorced supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen, 45, in October 2022 after 13 years of marriage, told Complex in April 2022: “At that point, I decided to talk with my family, and I said, ‘I think I wanna do this one more time if you guys will support that.’ “And my wife was so supportive of it, and she said, ‘Look, I want you to be happy. I want you to enjoy it and go out there and win.’”
“Ultimately, that’s why I came back, to win. There’s only one reason to play for me at this point in my career. And that’s to win.”
The sporting legend, who is dad to Benjamin, 16, and Vivian, 13, with Gisele, as well as Jack, 18, with his ex, actress Bridget Moynahan, 54, also admitted he would stop at the age of 50 because his children “deserve my time and energy.”
© IG/Tom BradyIn 2024, Brady said selflessness is one of the keys to happiness and explained how the NFL influenced his thinking. He told People, “It’s really about being selfless. I was a part of a culture that was about being totally selfless. There was a great line that [famed basketball coach] John Wooden said, ‘Happiness begins where selfishness ends.’
“That’s the way it was with my football teammates. We were just a bunch of people that love being together, and we didn’t care who got the credit. We just wanted to win. That’s a really unique thing.”
