Tom Brady: What changed his mind on retirement and why he's not done yet
Up till now, we have yet to hear much on why Tampa Bay Buccaneers' QB Tom Brady changed his mind on retirement. In a recent interview with Complex, Brady first fills in why he retired in the first place and then on went on to talk about his conversations with former HC Bruce Arians and GM Jason Licht before rounding out why he ultimately changed his mind.
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I wanted to make sure the team had time to plan. I didn’t want them to get too far down the line and then realize that I wasn’t gonna play. So I tried to let them know as early as possible when I felt like I was sure that I wasn’t gonna be able to make the commitment to play. I wanted to tell them that my life was gonna take me in a different direction. Having different conversations with Bruce [Arians] and Jason [Licht], there’s still an intense love of the sport. I think that will always be there. I really wanted to make sure this offseason, and I had told the team, that I really need to spend time with my family if I’m gonna come back and play and make this commitment to this team. I love the players. There’s no way in the world I’d be coming back to play with guys that I didn’t care deeply about.
Brady knew that deep in the back of his mind that his love for the game and his teammates were always going to be a thought in his process to deciding whether or not to un-retire. Ultimately it came down to one thing for him, speaking with his family.
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At that point, I decided to talk with my family and I said, “I think I wanna do this one more time if you guys will support that.” And my wife was so supportive of it and she said, “Look, I want you to be happy. I want you to enjoy it and go out there and win.” Ultimately, that’s why I came back, to win. There’s only one reason to play for me at this point in my career. And that’s to win.
With his family on board, Brady ultimately decided that he again would work towards chasing another Lombardi Trophy. All he wants to do is win. With the cast that the Bucs are surrounding him with, Brady has another shot at doing just that; winning.
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