NFL, former teammates react to Tom Brady retirement report: 'Is he retiring or not?'
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is retiring ... actually, maybe he's not. Football fans at first paid tribute as reports poured in that Brady was walking away from the NFL after 22 seasons.
Then, things got weird.
Brady's agent set out a message making it clear Brady made no announcement about his status. Multiple Buccaneers writers then confirmed Brady did not inform the team of any decision. It was later reported Brady called the Bucs on Saturday and said he was not close to making a decision.
Even Tom Brady Sr. got involved.
JUST IN: Tom Brady Sr. tells @kron4news that his son is not retiring. Brady Sr. says an online publication started circulating an unsubstantiated rumor. However a number of NFL insiders are now reporting it. @kron4news#TomBrady#NFL
— Kylen Mills (@KylenMills) January 29, 2022
It all made for an extremely confusing afternoon.
If there's an upside here, it's that there's a full timeline of that confusion readily available on Twitter. Here's how it all went down:
NFL, former teammates react to Tom Brady's reported retirement
Shortly after the news broke, three of Brady's best offensive weapons — Julian Edelman, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin — responded with earnest messages honoring Brady.
The best ever. Congratulations bro @TomBrady grateful to have gotten to share the field with you! Much love fam 🐐
— Chris Godwin (@CGtwelve_) January 29, 2022
Thanks for the memories, babe. @TomBradypic.twitter.com/lCqCVn13tI
— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) January 29, 2022
Evans later deleted his tweet.
The NFL account sent out two tweets thanking Brady for his contributions.
Nobody did it better. #ThankYouTompic.twitter.com/TMjtMpjWBB
— NFL (@NFL) January 29, 2022
All the moments. All the memories. Thank you for everything, Tom. ❤️🐐 #ThankYouTompic.twitter.com/RcxeznI8QJ
— NFL (@NFL) January 29, 2022
Brady's company TB12 released a tweet listing off Brady's accomplishments and thanking him.
That tweet was later deleted after the narrative started to shift.
Tom Brady has not announced retirement yet
Once reports emerged suggesting Brady has yet to make a decision, Twitter responded with disbelief and humor.
That's why they say never count out Touchdown Tom. https://t.co/0gaSAgtc1F
— Adam Lichtenstein (@ABLichtenstein) January 29, 2022
ESPN: “Tom Brady retiring!”
Tom Brady: pic.twitter.com/RUD8pHQNZf— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) January 29, 2022
Until @tombrady says it's official, there's still :12 left on the clock... pic.twitter.com/Im03vBGfn7
— Madden NFL 22 (@EAMaddenNFL) January 29, 2022
Former NFL quarterbacks Matt Cassel, Brady Quinn and Ryan Leaf all got involved.
Can confirm that I texted Tom Brady and he didn’t text me back.
— Matt Cassel (@M_Cassel16) January 29, 2022
Can confirm, I texted Matt Cassel, who texted Tom Brady and he (Matt) has not text me back.
— Brady Quinn (@Brady_Quinn) January 29, 2022
Can confirm, I texted Brady Quinn, who had texted Matt Cassel who had texted Tom Brady and Brady, not Tom Brady, but Quinn, hasn’t texted me back, though I just texted him like 5 mins ago, so I probably should give him more time.
— Ryan D Leaf (@RyanDLeaf) January 29, 2022
So is he retiring or not?
— Shannon Spake (@ShannonSpake) January 29, 2022
Tom Brady pic.twitter.com/BWthxci0yh
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) January 29, 2022
Tom Brady coming back out of spite?
Eventually, the conversation evolved into tweets wondering if Brady would return to the NFL out of spite.
Good thing Tom Brady doesn’t seem like the sort of person who’d be motivated by a perceived slight and endure an entire NFL season to prove a point.
— Robert Mays (@robertmays) January 29, 2022
imagine Tom Brady playing an entire NFL season at age 45 out of spite
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) January 29, 2022
Adam Schefter 100% spoiled Tom Brady's retirement news and he's pissed.
Wouldn't put it past Brady to come back one year out of spite.— Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) January 29, 2022
For y’all thinking Tom Brady is retiring! Goat ain’t going nowhere #yalltrippinpic.twitter.com/VOo753Kptq
— Marcellus Wiley 🧢 (@marcelluswiley) January 29, 2022
Tom Brady actually not retiring because reports came out that he was retiring before he could officially announce it himself (and then he goes on to win the Super Bowl) would be peak Tom Brady.
— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) January 29, 2022
Brady has yet to make an announcement about his future, meaning we get to have this full experience all over again in a few weeks. So, uh, get excited — or delete your Twitter account — in anticipation of that.
