In a nine-panel Instagram post that went up around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, beloved former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady ended any speculation about what might be next for him after 22 seasons in the NFL.
“This is difficult for me to write but here it goes: I am not going to make that competitive commitment anymore. I have loved my NFL career and now it’s time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention.”
The only thing missing from the many thanks Brady extols in his announcement is a mention of The New England Patriots or its fans – where Brady spent the first 20 years of his career, winning six Super Bowls before going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.
In hindsight, the break-up between Brady and the Patriots was hard on everyone, and maybe the less said in this moment the better.
Brady led the Bucs to a Super Bowl win in 2021, but the team was eliminated from the playoffs this year on Jan. 23 by the Rams with a 30-27 loss.
Since then, fans of TB12 have been waiting for a sign from him as to what his next move would be. The wait is officially over, and Tom Brady summed it all up by saying he enjoyed the competition, will cherish the many memories he’s accumulated, and that he “feels like the luckiest person in the world.”
The Internet wasted no time in spreading the news, including his official Wikipedia status as “a former American football player.”
The content of the Instagram thread, which registerd more than 2 million “likes” in less than an hour of its posting, is below:
