Father Time comes for us all, and it would seem that Father Time has finally done the impossible.
Prevented a Tom Brady comeback.
After a career spanning more than two decades, two franchises and seven Lombardi Trophies, the legendary quarterback has announced his retirement. Rumors began circulating prior to kickoff of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ divisional round game against the Los Angeles Rams, a game that now stands as the final time the veteran quarterback laced up the cleats.
The quarterback announced his retirement with a lengthy statement on social media:
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) February 1, 2022
In a way it was a fitting end. As his father once said, when speaking of Brady’s time with the New England Patriots, “it will end badly.” Now, his father was talking about the brutal business of football, and how his son’s desire to play “until he was 70” might not mesh well with the realities of the sport, but Brady’s last game was not the ride off into the sunset that he might have imagined.
Instead, he walked off the field, head held high, after leading the Buccaneers close to another storied comeback, only to fall short in the end, when it was Matthew Stafford, and not himself, who willed his team to victory.
In the coming days, weeks, and even months, we will all try to put into words Brady’s legacy. And, we will all fail. In an era of salary caps and player movement, Brady delivered six Super Bowl titles to a single team, spanning two different dynasties and taking a franchise that had been seeking its first title to the top of the football mountaintop, transforming an organization over the course of his time in New England.
But he was not done.
Rather than retire, Brady moved south, staved off the jokes about the “old guy moving to Florida” and, as some predicted, delivered another franchise a title in his first year with Tampa Bay.
It is almost impossible to put that kind of legacy into words.
Instead, let’s try and take some lessons from Brady’s career. Lessons about player evaluation, what it takes to become a legend, and more.