Who says age isn’t just a number?
Tom Brady sat down with ESPN’s Jeff Darlington this week and echoed the same thing he had been saying for months now but with some assurance. Brady said that there is “zero” chance he’ll hang up his spikes after this weekends Super Bowl match up with the LA Rams.
“I feel like I’m asked that a lot, and I feel like I repeat the same answer but no one wants to believe me,” Brady said. “… I’ve set a goal for myself at 45. Like I said before, it’s very hard to make it that far. I know how hard it was this year and the commitment it takes.”
He did add that while 45 is his goal, “he’ll know” when it’s right to retire but that is not right now. This news shouldn’t be anything new though, Brady has been answering that question with the same smile for months now. He made the following comment a few days after Week 16’s match up with Buffalo showing he isn’t just in it because of the success they’ve had this post season.
“I absolutely believe I will [play]. I know I’ve talked about it for a long time: I have goals to not only play next year, but beyond that. I’m going to try to do it as best I possibly can. I’m going to give it everything I have, like I always have.”
But should Brady be so confident? Coming off a season where the vet pivot threw for 4,355 yards and 29 touchdowns against 11 interceptions there were a few signs of father time creeping up.
His 11 interceptions are the most hes thrown since 2013 and it seems like we are a lot more then 12 months removed from his 2017 MVP campaign. There were eight games this year where Brady threw 1 or fewer touchdowns and hes only thrown two TDs this post season, that is before mentioning the two interceptions in the AFC championship game.
After last year there were plenty of reasons to think Brady would walk away. He could have gone out playing at an MVP level and before the reported relationship problems with Bill Belichick took over the organization but that lose to the Philadelphia Eagles left something to be desired.
Brady came back with a decent season, rumors of discourse among the Patriots core seem to have disappeared and the Patriot are back to the Patriots way, winning. While Brady may not be the focal point of the teams offense anymore he can still do plenty to keep this team where it needs to be and you won’t catch anyone betting against Brady on a game winning drive.
We’ll see if Brady can still sling it like he has year after year his whole career this weekend and will have to wait to see how he looks in the twilight of his career. He’ll make sure to give us plenty of opportunities not just next year “but well beyond.”
