New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has long stated that his goal is to play until he’s 45 years old and then evaluate his future. But in the final year of a contract for the first time in his two-decades-long career, the 42-year-old admitted on Wednesday that there is some level of uncertainty about his future.
“That is the great part for me — I don’t know,” Brady said during an interview with WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show. “I think that has been a unique situation that I have been in because I think, when you commit to a team for a certain amount of years, you kinda feel like (there is) the responsibility to always fulfill the contract. For me, it’s been good because I am just taking it day by day and I am enjoying what I have. I don’t know what the future holds and the great part is for me, football at this point is all borrowed time.
“I never expected to play 20 years and I am playing on a great team and it’s just been an incredible 20 years of my life. To play for Mr. Kraft, and Jonathan and the Kraft family and for Coach Belichick and to have so much success is a dream come true.”
There has been a large dose of speculation in New England about Brady’s future plans. A somewhat-contentious contract renegotiation led to voidable second and third years on the three-year extension he signed this summer. This means, for all intents and purposes, it’s a one-year deal. Then came news that Brady himself insisted that there be language included in the contract that didn’t allow the team to use the franchise tag on him. Add in the fact that Brady and his wife, Gisele Bundchen, put their Massachusetts home up for sale, as did Brady’s personal trainer and business partner at TB12 Sports Therapy, Alex Guerrero, and, well, you can understand why questions have persisted throughout the course of this season.
“One day I will wake up and I will feel like, ‘OK, that will be enough.’ When that day comes, that day comes,” Brady said. “I don’t know if it will be after this year. I don’t know if it will be five years from now. I don’t have to determine those things right now, either. That’s kind of a good part of where I am at. Just take advantage of the opportunities that I have this year and do the very best I can do and then those decisions come at probably more appropriate times.”
Follow Mike Giardi on Twitter @MikeGiardi.