Particularly with the uncertainty at guard in Tampa with the retirement of Pro Bowler Ali Marpet, getting his center back was a must for Brady. Tight end Ron Gronkowski is one, a clear number one. Maybe Brady said he pushed the Bucs to be sure they got a deal done with Jensen.īrady doesn’t have a lot of must-haves, or guys he feels close to and really wants to have at his side. But it was something like, I’m coming back and I need you and we gotta get your deal done. But Sunday afternoon, Brady reached out to Jensen. McCartney wanted $13 million per year for Jensen, minimum, to stay in Tampa, and the cap-strapped Bucs weren’t going there. Jensen’s agent, Mike McCartney, had been engaged in talks to try to get Jensen, 30, re-signed before the legal tampering began today at noon ET. It revolved around Brady and free-agent Bucs center Ryan Jensen. There was a subplot in the Brady return Sunday. “He would not play if he didn’t think he could win the Super Bowl.” Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady. “It takes a whole lot to turn off that love of the game,” Gray said Sunday night. Tampa Bay lost 30-27 on a last-second field goal. Brady led the NFL in passing yards and touchdown passes, the Bucs went 13-4, and, against the eventual Super Bowl champion Rams in the playoffs, Brady led a furious comeback from 24 points down to tie the game with 42 seconds left.
“Here we go again! Let’s go Bucs!” she said on social media. Logically, the world wondered what his wife, Gisele Bundchen, thought of her husband continuing to play. “I don’t think Tom wanted to be sitting there, out of the game and watching football in September and thinking, ‘I’m as good as those guys. That decision, his good friend and podcast partner Jim Gray told me Sunday night, was rooted in how he feels about football, and how he feels, period. So what happened? I think once Brady found out his family backed him doing what he truly wanted to do-play or not play-he figured he had clearance to make the decision he wanted to make. And a day later, Brady made it official.Ĭristiano Ronaldo: “You’re finished, right?
On Saturday, Man U star Cristiano Ronaldo scored three goals in a 3-2 win over Tottenham, and afterward, cameras caught him asking Brady, “All good? You’re finished, right?” Brady made a face like, Ummmm, well, not really.
He and his family went to Costa Rica, to New York, and to England (most recently) to watch Manchester United. Meanwhile, Brady took advantage of that leisure time to figure out his life. “Slim, but had fingers crossed the last few weeks.” “Always thought there was a chance,” Arians told me in a text Sunday night. When I met with Licht at the NFL Scouting Combine nine days ago, I sensed he thought the Bucs had a chance at Brady returning. Licht and Arians did it the smart way: no pressure, take your time, do what makes you happy, we’ll always have a spot for you. 1 retirement, and coach Bruce Arians and GM Jason Licht were using quiet diplomacy with him in the past couple of weeks. There was quiet chatter that Brady was having second thoughts after his Feb. Little Steven of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band tweeted: “Holy sh–! Brady’s back!” The Lead: Brady's Backīrady unretiring after 40 days as a man of leisure wasn’t a shock to all. That doesn’t mean the world wasn’t shocked Sunday night when the news broke. A man who loves his job wanted to keep doing it. Legends, totally healthy, totally smitten with their profession, don’t stop loving their jobs because history says they can’t be great at 45. I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa. I love my teammates, and I love my supportive family. These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands. It had an earthquake.Īt 7:13 Sunday night, Tom Brady unretired. Then, on the seventh day, the NFL did not rest. Khalil Mack’s a Charger, Joe Buck’s on ESPN, Amari Cooper’s a Brown, Kirk Cousins is filthy rich-again. Deshaun Watson took a giant step toward being traded. Carson Wentz was traded to his third team in 14 months. Two hours apart, Aaron Rodgers stayed and Russell Wilson left. A player was suspended for a year for gambling on NFL games. This was already The Week That Shook The NFL To The Core.