After 22 years in the NFL, Tom Brady has officially decided that it is time for him to hang up his cleats and retire. Brady announces his retirement following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers being eliminated from the playoffs, after a devastating loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC divisional round.
After an all-time great career where he spent 20 years with the New England Patriots, and two years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Brady has finally decided to retire. Brady won seven Super Bowls throughout his career, the most of any player in NFL history, six with the New England Patriots, and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady also racked up three regular season MVP awards, five Super Bowl MVP awards and is the leader in most quarterback statistics.
This brings up a crucial question, where does Brady rank in the all-time great standings? Many people consider Brady the Greatest Of All Time, or the GOAT.
When asked where Brady ranks all time, Alex Freibrun, a sports management major at bucks said, “I’d rank Tom Brady number one all time due to his accomplishments, and all of his achievements throughout his career.”
Haseeb Sial, a business major at Temple said, “Tom Brady is the GOAT, because he won multiple rings with the Patriots, and then switched teams and another ring with the Buccaneers. Also, because he has been able to play at a high level throughout his whole career.”
Matt Hirsh, a sports marketing major at Temple commented on Brady’s retirement, “I’m not surprised based on his age, but I am surprised because of how the season ended.”
Health Science major Sebastian Podlesny figured Brady would wait until he won another championship “I was really surprised by his retirement. I thought he would play for a couple more seasons, or at least until he got another Super Bowl ring.”
Even in his last season Brady has shown that he still has more gas left in the tank. He also hinted that he is not against potentially coming back in the future.
Brady also had a significant impact on the NFL as a whole, as Freibrun says “He had a major impact on the game on the field and off the field. He was a great leader to his teammates and was a great example of how someone should act in the spotlight. There wasn’t a lot of controversy around him and his career, even with all the achievements that came his way.”
It is such a rare thing for one player to have such an impact on a league for over two decades, it is likely we will never see another player like him again.