Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady has officially announced his retirement from the NFL, saying this morning in an Instagram post that he is “not going to make that competitive commitment anymore.”
In the Instagram statement, Brady wrote, “I have always believed the sport of football is an ‘all-in’ proposition — if a 100% competitive commitment isn’t there, you won’t succeed, and success is what I love so much about our game. 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 is time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention.”
The 44-year-old Brady, widely considered one of, if not the greatest quarterback in NFL history, has been to ten Super Bowls, won seven Lombardi trophies, the most championships won by a single player in NFL history, along with five Super Bowl MVPs, three NFL MVPs, fifteen Pro Bowl nods, and six All-Pro selections. He piled up career records such as most touchdown passes (624) and most passing yards (84,250) in his 22 seasons — of which 20 were with the New England Patriots.