As we all know Brady promptly retired earlier this year in what was what seemed to be a sigh of relief for the NFL and all of its fans. At last the man responsible for single handedly keeping the Afc in check was done but from that moment forward he’d be amid the headlines weekly. There is many theories of what Tom was up to this last off season. He and Sean Payton to Miami, signing a mega contract with a broadcasting company, being traded to the 49ers, and well the thin few who thought he was ready to retire. It seemed as if no one truly believed Brady was done, a man even decided to sell Brady’s last touchdown ball and made a whopping 518k. Yes, what was supposed to be Tom Brady’s last touchdown ball sold for a home mortgage and a half. All of this controversy only lasted for two months though because as we all know the GOAT decided he wasn’t just done yet. Nobody but Brady himself will ever know what truly went into the decision to come back, personally I believe he retired to gain freedom from the bombarding of questions he was undoubtedly being asked. I believe his plan was always ultimately to play yet another season. 

Hear me out. This was Brady in 2017 "I think 45 is a pretty good number for right now. I know the effort it takes to be 40...My love for the sport will never go away. I don't think at 45 it will go away. At some point, everybody moves on. Some people don't do it on their terms. I feel I want it to be on my terms. I've got to make appropriate choices on how to do that, how to put myself in the best position to reach my long-term goals." Later that same year he says “When I suck I’ll retire.” He’s now hit his goal of playing until 45 and quite obviously done it on his own terms. The Bucs currently sit at 6-6 in a season where he hasn’t been dominating at his usual level. I just feel like Brady needed this last season to see if he could still get another ring, and who knows he probably could with a healthy squad around him. After 23 seasons, playing top 10 football in 22 of them, and doing it until 45 years old, Tom will walk away the greatest quarterback to ever do it. Enjoy his games while you still can.