Did Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady just express that he wants to play till the age of 55?
While speaking with Amazon’s Hannah Storm and Andrea Kramer, Tom Brady mentioned the possibility of playing another decade for the first time publicly.
“I really think I can play as long as I want,” the 44-year-old said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “I really do. I could literally play until I’m 50 or 55 if I wanted to. I don’t think I will obviously . . . my physical body won’t be the problem. I think it’ll just be, I’m just missing too much of life with my family.”
“I don’t find it so difficult,” Brady said. “Plus, in Florida, it’s kind of a retiree state, so I feel like I can play and then just glide into retirement. I think I can, I think it’s a yes.”
In June, Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht said he’d let the Brady play until he’s 50. However, the quarterback said that he was focused on completing the remainder of his contract. He hinted that before making a decision on his football future, he will complete that remaining contract.
“50? That’s a long time. Even for me, that’s a long time,” Brady told USA TODAY via Jori Epstein in response to Licht’s comment. “I’ve always said 45 was the age that I wanted to reach and that was my goal. This year I’ll be 44, so next year I’ll be 45. I got a two-year contract.
“I’m going to be able to obviously play this year and God forbid anything happens, but play next year and then see what happens after that. If I still want to keep playing, I might be able to do that. And if that’s enough, then that would be enough.”
Brady threw for 297 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception on 34 of 42 passing on Thursday night, extending his NFL records for career passing yards (81,268) and touchdowns (598) after experiencing an injury to his throwing hand thumb last week.
