Forty days after announcing his retirement from professional football, Tom Brady, 44, announced that he’ll play his 23rd season in the NFL.
“These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands,” he posted on Sunday. “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. Unfinished business LFG.”
The seven-time Super Bowl champion didn’t actually last two months on the sidelines after his retirement post at the beginning of February, and Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians is all about it.
“Tom Brady loves to play football as much as anyone I have ever been around,” he remarked in a statement. “As Tom said, his place right now is on the football field. He is still playing at a championship level and was as productive as anyone in the league last season. We are ecstatic that he decided to continue playing and working toward winning another championship.”
Tampa Bay’s general manager Jason Licht concurred. “Bruce 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.”
“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,” he concluded.
With Brady back the NFC South division has gone from being wide open to heavily favoring the Buccaneers, and the NFL is shook.
Here are some of the league’s best reactions to his unexpected comeback:
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) March 13, 2022
guess not https://t.co/23Mr5kj0CA
— New York Jets (@nyjets) March 13, 2022
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) March 13, 2022
We should have finished the episode. https://t.co/FIqIoxrgtV pic.twitter.com/nz71LRUz3z
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) March 14, 2022
NFL teams seeing that Tom Brady is coming out of retirement pic.twitter.com/m7pUZuK2LT
— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) March 13, 2022