Tom Brady Says His NFL Career Is Over: “I’m Retiring, For Good”

NFL legend Tom Brady says his playing career is over. For real this time.

In a video posted to his social channels Wednesday morning, Brady cut right to the chase: “I’m retiring, for good.”

“I know the process was a pretty big deal last time, so when I woke up this morning, I figured I’d just press record and let you guys know first,” he added. “You only get one super emotional retirement essay and I used my note last year so really, thank you guys so much, to every single one of you for supporting me, my family, my friends, my teammates, my competitors — I could go on forever; there’s too many. Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

As Brady noted, he officially retired from the NFL a year ago today, only to reverse course a month later to return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for one final season. The Bucs made the playoffs this season, but didn’t advance beyond the first round.

With Brady’s football career over, it’s likely that his career in the entertainment business is only just beginning. On Tuesday, Brady walked the red carpet for the Los Angeles career of the film 80 for Brady, in which he plays himself. Brady also co-owns a production company called Religion of Sports that produces sports-adjacent content.

And of course after he returned to the NFL last year, he inked a rich multiyear deal with Fox Sports, which said that he would join the network’s NFL broadcast booth whenever he decides to retire. Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch added at the time that Brady will “also serve as an ambassador for us, particularly with respect to client and promotional initiatives.”

The winningest quarterback in NFL history, Brady led his teams to seven Super Bowl wins between 2002 and 2021, six of them with the New England Patriots, where was the cornerstone of a sports dynasty, and one with the Bucs.

But Brady has also been in the news more recently for less favorable things. Last year, he and Gisele Bundchen announced that they would be getting divorced, and he was embroiled in the collapse of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, for which he served as a paid spokesman. Brady is likely to lose millions in the bankruptcy.