At age 40, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady managed to take his team to Super Bowl appearance last season and become the oldest player in league’s history to win an MVP award. So it isn’t strange that despite his advanced years, Brady is still Patriots’ number one choice at the QB position and might be so in the coming years as well. But, soon to be 41-year-old knows he can’t play forever.
Speaking with Oprah Winfrey in an interview aired on Sunday, Tom Brady acknowledged he is thinking a lot more about retirement lately and that “there’s definitely an end coming.”
“I think about it more now than I used to,” – Brady told Winfrey. “I think I’m seeing that there’s definitely an end coming, sooner rather than later.“
Winfrey then asked Brady whether that time might be when he is 43 or even 45 years old.
“As long as I’m still loving it.” – he responded. “As long as I’m loving the training and preparation and willing to make the commitment. But it’s also, I think, what I’ve alluded to a lot in the [“Tom vs. Time”] docuseries was there’s other things happening in my life, too. I do have [three] kids that I love, and I don’t want to be a dad that’s not there driving my kids to their games. I think my kids have brought a great perspective in my life, because kids just want the attention. You better be there and be available to them, or else they’re going to look back on their life and go, ‘Dad didn’t really care that much.’“
If Tom Brady ends up playing until 45 and is still a starter for the Patriots, he will add another record to his collection; being the oldest starting quarterback in the history of NFL. The current record holder is Steve DeBerg, who was 44 years and 279 days old when he started for the Atlanta Falcons in a game against the New York Jets.
