RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady announced, what appeared to be, his final retirement from a decades-long reign in football Wednesday morning.
Brady made the announcement at 8:12 a.m. via a Twitter video, which had more than 23,000 likes in the first eight minutes.
“Good morning guys, I’ll get to the point right away. I’m retiring… for good,” Brady said in the video posted Wednesday morning. “I know the process was a pretty big deal last time so when I woke up this morning I figured I’d just press record and let you guys know first.”
The former New England Patriots quarterback previously announced his retirement in early 2022, but later retracted his statement, citing “unfinished business” and returned to the gridiron with the Buccaneers for his 23rd season.
“I won’t be long-winded, I think you only get one super-emotional retirement essay, and I used mine up last year,” Brady said. “I really want to thank you guys so much, to every single one of you for supporting me. My family, my friends, my teammates, my competitors — I could go on forever there’s too many.”
Brady was selected 199th overall by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft and became the starting quarterback after an injury to Drew Bledsoe in 2001. The Patriots won the game in overtime and won the Super Bowl that year. Brady followed this by leading the Patriots to back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 2003 and 2004.
“Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream, I wouldn’t change a thing. Love you all,” he said.
Brady also posted the announcement on Instagram, with the caption:
“I love my family
I love my teammates
I love my friends
I love my coaches
I love football
I love you all
I am truly grateful on this day. Thank you 🙏🏻❤️”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated, stay with 8News for more.
