NFL great Tom Brady announced Sunday that he will not be retiring from pro football as planned and will return with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for another season.
“These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands,” he tweeted. “That time will come. But it’s not now. I love my teammates, and I love my supportive family. They make it all possible. I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa.”
Brady had announced his retirement at the start of February, after 22 seasons and seven Super Bowl championships.
The 44-year-old had sent the sporting world into a tizzy earlier on Sunday when he posted a video of an exchange with soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo on his Instagram story. In the clip, Brady hesitates and makes a face after Ronaldo asks him, “You’re finished, right?”
The legendary quarterback has been back and forth about his retirement, which was first reported in late January. Brady denied the initial reports, signaling that he was still unsure about leaving. Several days later, he confirmed he would hang up his helmet, saying he intended to “spend a lot of time giving to others and trying to enrich other people’s lives, just as so many have done for me.”
When asked last month whether a comeback to the NFL was possible, Brady said: “You never say never.”
Brady was one of the youngest quarterbacks ever to win a Super Bowl, at just 24 years old, when his New England Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams in 2002. He went on to become the most successful quarterback in the league’s history, nabbing more championship rings than any other player ever. His last Super Bowl win, in 2021 with the Buccaneers, was his seventh.
He’s married to model Gisele Bündchen and has three children.