Considering Tom Brady will turn 45-years-old in August, not too many people were surprised when he decided to finally call it quits and retire after 22 seasons in the National Football League. However, he stunned the world on Sunday evening when he announced that he had changed his mind and would indeed return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for his 23rd campaign in the NFL and third with the club.
“These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands,” Brady wrote on an Instagram post on Sunday evening. “That time will come. But it’s not now. I love my teammates, and I love my supportive family. They make it all possible. I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa.”
While the football world may be shocked, according to the Buccaneers’ general manager Jason Licht it was something the team had been anticipating in recent days.
“[Head coach Bruce Arians] and I have had plenty of conversations with Tom recently that led us to believe there was a realistic chance he would want to come back,” Licht said, via ESPN. “Tom is the greatest quarterback of all time who is still playing at an elite level. With this decision now made, we will continue to move forward with our offseason plans to reload this roster for another championship run.”
Brady opted to join the Buccaneers after spending 20 seasons in New England with the Patriots where he helped lead them to six Super Bowls during that time. He won his seventh Super Bowl in his first season with the Buccaneers, but they were eliminated by the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round during his second year with the club.
“Tom Brady loves to play football as much as anyone I have ever been around,” Arians said in a statement, via ESPN. “As Tom said, his place right now is on the football field.”
Brady’s return to the field instantly makes the Buccaneers Super Bowl contenders again. It will likely also change the direction the franchise was planning to go in during the offseason with rebuilding clearly not in the plans anytime soon. Brady’s announcement happened right before free agency in the NFL begins, meaning Tampa Bay will be a much more ambitious side. Veteran tight end Rob Gronkowski is a free agent and despite interest from around the league may opt to return to the Buccaneers with Brady back as well.
It’ll be interesting to see how this affects the league going forward, but the Buccaneers will certainly be looking to win their second Super Bowl in three years. Brady threw for 40 touchdowns in his first season in Tampa Bay and 43 during his second, putting himself in the NFL MVP discussion. While many would already consider Brady the greatest to ever play the sport, he isn’t done building his legacy just yet and would love nothing more than to go out with a remarkable eighth Super Bowl ring.
