NFL World Reacts to Reports of Tom Brady's Retirement

The seven-time Super Bowl champion is reportedly retiring. The NFL world shared its reactions on social media.

Tom Brady, seven-time Super Bowl champion and the greatest quarterback to ever play the game, is reportedly retiring from the NFL after 22 seasons. While reports emerged Saturday that Brady's decision was not yet made, several sources told NFL Network's Ian Rapaport that the pushback appears to be based on timing, rather than the eventual decision.

Brady, who is the most decorated player in NFL history, walks away from the game after one of the greatest statistical seasons of his career.

In 2021, Brady set a career-high in passing yards, leading the NFL with 5,316 passing yards with 43 touchdowns to 11 interceptions and a 67.5% completion percentage.

Brady's list of accolades is quite lengthy, as ESPN's Field Yates alluded to in a tweet on Saturday afternoon.

Tom Brady's 22-year career:
* 7X Super Bowl champion
* 5X Super Bowl MVP
* 3X NFL MVP
* 15X Pro Bowl
* 6X All Pro
* NFL's all time passing TD leader (624)
* NFL's all passing yard leader (85,520)
* Most career wins: 243

🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 29, 2022

Brady has frequently been lauded for his longevity and ability to maintain his prime longer than anyone ever has at the quarterback position in the history of the sport. His ability to retire at the pinnacle of his play as the league's oldest player was not lost on Kevin Clark of The Ringer.

Tom Brady is the first guy to retire in his prime while also being one of the oldest players in the history of his sport. Beautiful.

— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) January 29, 2022

Few professional athletes get the luxury of walking away on their own terms. The fact that Brady was able to do so in one of the greatest statistical seasons of his career, even without a Super Bowl ring, is quite the bookend to his storied run.

It will be odd next to season when I have to pick a team to make the Super Bowl that doesn’t have Tom Brady on it.
Very few of us get to retire when we want and I’ve always admired guys like Brady who retire when they’ve had enough of the game.

— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) January 29, 2022

Brady walked away from the game two years after his longtime New England slot receiver target, Julian Edelman, who retired prior to the 2021 season.

Edelman expressed his appreciation for Brady in a tweet Saturday afternoon.

Thanks for the memories, babe. @TomBrady pic.twitter.com/lCqCVn13tI

— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) January 29, 2022

Several of Brady's current teammates have begun tweeting out their appreciation for what he's done with the Buccaneers over the last two seasons.

Congratulations on a great career @TomBrady ! Enjoy retirement goat

— Donovan Smith (@DSmith_76) January 29, 2022

T.B.E! Congrats @TomBrady grateful to share the field with you! Much love and respect to you bro 🐐

— Tyler Johnson (@T_muhneyy10) January 29, 2022

• Vault: The Ultimate Teammate
• Magnificent Seventh: How Brady’s Bucs Became Super Bowl Champions

This is a breaking news story. Stay with Sports Illustrated for updates.