At what point does the icon’s unmatched longevity stop being commendable?
When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take the field against the Dallas Cowboys this Sunday night, Brady will begin his 23rd season in the NFL. He will be 45 years old, the holder of every meaningful record a signal-caller can have. They include most games started (316), most regular season games (243), most playoff wins by a quarterback (35), most passing yards (84,520), most completions (7,263), and most passing touchdowns (624). Brady is the oldest player (at 40 years old) to earn MVP honors. He has appeared in the most Pro Bowls (18) and the most Super Bowls (10).
That’s not bad for a gangly kid drafted 199th overall, back when Bill Clinton was still President.
Brady announced his retirement at the end of the 2021-22 season, shortly after the Buccaneers were eliminated from the NFL Playoffs. Then, six weeks later, he un-retired. So, this great man will continue playing with his physical health and mental facilities intact. He also maintains a squeaky-clean public image.
But here is the thing. I’ll turn 43 at the end of September, meaning I’m roughly the same age as Tom Brady, and I cannot understand why he isn’t eager to evolve past the NFL. How can a seven-time Super Bowl Champion, reportedly worth $400 million, still be fulfilled by playing a game with a locker room of men in their mid-twenties?
Sure, playing a single snap of an NFL game would be a pipe dream for someone like me–a schoolteacher with zero athletic prowess–but Tom Brady could do anything. He could own an NFL Team, run for Congress, or lend his fame and fortune to charity. Per SI.com, Brady has already signed a ten-year, $375 million deal with Fox Sports. He could do that. Or he could be Tom Brady.
Courtesy CBS Sports
Brady follows a draconian training regimen and a strict diet to stay in game shape. He doesn’t eat bread, for example. But when does that lifestyle become too much? Is beating the Chargers for the thirtieth time still that important? Then there’s his private life.
Reports of strife in Brady’s high-profile marriage began to surface when he took an eleven-day absence from training camp in August for “personal reasons.” When asked about the absence, Brady told reporters, “There’s a lot of s**t going on.” According to one source, who commented on the situation, “Gisele has always been the one with the kids. They had agreed he would retire to focus on the family; then he changed his mind.”
There should be a rule in pro sports: if you’re older than the coaches, you can’t play anymore. Tom Brady has conquered the NFL, and he can still be successful playing the game. But what’s the point? How many Super Bowl rings can one person wear (he has seven already) before that itch is scratched?
But what if his luck runs out?
The game of professional football is not a contact sport; it’s a collision sport. Today’s athletes are bigger, stronger, and faster than ever. So, one hit means Mr. Brady might never walk right again. I think it’s a miracle that he has gone through 22 seasons without sustaining a debilitating injury. But it could be only a matter of time. My advice to Tom: “Walk away while you can.”
Though Tom Brady and I have very little in common, we share a few things. We are husbands and fathers, and we both face the choice that all men of a particular age face. Cling to a past version of yourself or accept the fact that your future will no longer be about “that.” Brady seems to understand the choice. “Over time, other priorities develop because you change and evolve through life, and you grow in different ways,” Tom Brady.
Tom Brady is the most-accomplished football player of our time, and his place on Mount Rushmore of American Sports is secured. But I believe it’s time for him to let the next class of quarterbacks have their shot on center stage. That’s not happening, though…at least not yet. For my money, there’s nothing sloppier than retiring and then unretiring, and (for many) the flip-flop becomes a regrettable move. “I just felt like I had a little left, and I want to give it a shot,” Tom Brady.
So, at what point does doing what Tom Brady does become uncommendable?
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Brian Huba teaches 12th-Grade English in Upstate New York. Brian’s fiction has appeared in 101 Words, Reed Magazine, The Griffin, Down in the Dirt, Literary Juice, and Storyteller. His Op-Eds & essays have been published by Yahoo.com, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, NY Journal News, Syracuse Post-Standard, NY Daily News, and Utica Observer-Dispatch.
