Patriots Country

Patriots Legend Tom Brady Makes Bold Playing Claim

The New England Patriots legend has a large degree of his confidence in his current playing ability, despite being 48 years old.
Daniel Arwas|
Tom Brady waves at Detroit Lions fans at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, November 2, 2025.
Tom Brady waves at Detroit Lions fans at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, November 2, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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New England Patriots legend Tom Brady will have no doubt have felt a sense of nostalgia as he saw 44 year old quarterback, Phillip Rivers, trot out onto the field for the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15 and come within two points of beating the now 11-3 Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field.

Especially as he sees the kind of excellent play being produced by the Patriots' new signal caller, Drake Maye, who remains one of the frontrunners for the 2026 league MVP.

And speaking on The Big Podcast with Shaquille O'Neal and Adam Lefkoe, Brady echoed his thoughts that, if he returned to the NFL, he could do some serious damage for a lucky franchise.

Tom Brady Only Needs One Month To Be Football Ready

"I'd whoop a** right now, to be honest." Brady said about a hypothetical return to playing in the NFL. "Absolutely, I could go out there and play. Give me a month - I mean I could go play with anybody. And like I said I took care of my body great. I could do it all."

Whilst Brady seemed more than confident that he would be able to go out onto the pitch and dominate with just one month's preparation, he was evidently not keen on the prospect of playing a full season in the NFL once more.

"What I wouldn't want to do is make the commitment to play. It's like basketball season: do you really want to commit to playing 82 games? That takes a lot of training and I don't want to do that anymore."

But when asked about coming back for "just the finals" in basketball terms, Brady appeared to be more enthused than one might imagine.

Could Tom Brady Return To The NFL?

At this point in time, the GOAT is prohibited from returning to football due to his ownership of a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, with whom he has had a surprisingly hands-on role in his short tenure as minority owner.

It is not impossible that Brady could sell his portion of the team, particularly given the dysfunctional nature of the franchise. But at this point it would make to little sense to back out after making such a big commitment.

Especially if the main reason behind it would be to hypothetically potentially return to a top, contending team that loses its quarterback just prior to or during the postseason.

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Daniel Arwas
DANIEL ARWAS

Daniel Arwas is a writer for On SI, covering the New England Patriots. Daniel began his career in the sports industry in 2022 and has covered the NFL for Heavy, Gridiron Heroics, and The Hammer. Daniel is also a former Sports Trader at Betclic Group, where he co-led the NFL and Boxing teams. Daniel has a Bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of British Columbia, where he graduated in 2021.

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