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The Impact of Tom Brady's Retirement · NFL Now

0:05
Speaker 1: NFL Now is a production of the NFL in partnership
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Speaker 1: with I Heart Radio. Buck there's trail by six. Tom
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Speaker 1: Brady knows what to do with these chances. What is
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Speaker 1: he going to do when he's down by seven points
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Speaker 1: with two minutes left? Does he have it there? Rady
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Speaker 1: was like a man, help down, looks up on the road.
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Speaker 1: Patriots win, fires come get you. The legend continues to grow,
0:38
Speaker 1: praising the lead. God, I'm trying to come up with
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Speaker 1: the ball. Just come back to the Super Bowl history.
0:48
Speaker 1: Brady lights up in these opportunities to stop sucking their fire. Look, Cabot,
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Speaker 1: just like we drew it up. Everybody. Welcome into NFL
1:08
Speaker 1: Now on this Wednesday in the NFL l a newsroom
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Speaker 1: where the things pouring into this news room are reactions
1:14
Speaker 1: to the news that broke this morning courtesy of the
1:17
Speaker 1: only source that really matters in this instance, Tom Brady
1:20
Speaker 1: announcing to the world that he has ended his football career.
1:24
Speaker 1: This coming a year after he did it the first
1:26
Speaker 1: time for six months. That is the breaking news. After
1:29
Speaker 1: twenty three seasons, five Super Bowl MVP, seven Super Bowl championships.
1:34
Speaker 1: Tom Brady opens his phone, press's record and sends this
1:39
Speaker 1: message to the world. Good morning, guys. Get to the
1:45
Speaker 1: point right away. I'm retiring for good. I know the
1:51
Speaker 1: process was a pretty big deal last time, so when
1:54
Speaker 1: I woke up this morning, I figured I just pressed
1:57
Speaker 1: record and let you guys know first, so I won't
2:01
Speaker 1: be long winded. You only get one super emotional no
2:05
Speaker 1: retirement essay, and I used my nut last year. So really,
2:09
Speaker 1: thank you guys, so much, to every single one of
2:12
Speaker 1: you for supporting me, my family, my friends, my teammates,
2:20
Speaker 1: my competitors. I could go on forever. There's too many.
2:24
Speaker 1: Um thank you guys for allowing me to live my
2:27
Speaker 1: absolute dream. I wouldn't change the thing. I love you all,
2:34
Speaker 1: and that love being directed right back at Tom Brady.
2:37
Speaker 1: In the business, what we call what we're looking at
2:39
Speaker 1: right now is a waterfall, and this is niagara reaction
2:43
Speaker 1: from teams, hall of famers like Warren Moon, current players,
2:48
Speaker 1: pro all pros, everybody reacting to the retirement of Tom Brady,
2:52
Speaker 1: including one Hall of famer and his brother, Well, just
2:57
Speaker 1: nothing but respect for Tom. Uh his career, his longevity,
3:03
Speaker 1: his consistency, always just admired his cerebral approach to the game.
3:08
Speaker 1: Uh every season he tried to be better than the
3:11
Speaker 1: season before, and that's just a great model for any
3:14
Speaker 1: young quarterback. Uh. He actually texted me yesterday invited me
3:18
Speaker 1: to be on his podcast next week. Uh. I told
3:22
Speaker 1: him I'd do it as long as he asked the
3:23
Speaker 1: questions and not Jim Gray. Jim Gray asked tough questions
3:27
Speaker 1: and so, um, I didn't see this coming. This was
3:30
Speaker 1: a surprise to me. So I'm still gonna do the podcast.
3:33
Speaker 1: But uh, kind of like, uh, you've heard everybody say
3:37
Speaker 1: just just nothing but respect for his career and all
3:40
Speaker 1: that he's accomplished. It's absolutely incredible. Yeah, you know, to
3:45
Speaker 1: reiterate what Peyton said, kind of also surprised, just because
3:48
Speaker 1: I still thought he was playing at a high level
3:51
Speaker 1: and I could still throw it and and play well.
3:53
Speaker 1: Obviously made the playoffs this year, Peyton I got to
3:56
Speaker 1: call his his last game, um Monday night for that.
4:01
Speaker 1: So that's something I'll always have and always people kind
4:04
Speaker 1: of have an action. Haven't played them in a couple
4:06
Speaker 1: of Super Bowls, and so just unbelievable career by him,
4:10
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, wish of all the best in retirement,
4:14
Speaker 1: and it looks like he might be getting into the
4:15
Speaker 1: booth as well, another all time great going into the
4:19
Speaker 1: business of broadcast. Tom Brady shuts it down with the
4:23
Speaker 1: most wins by a starting quarterback in NFL history, and
4:26
Speaker 1: it's not even close, well ahead of Peyton Manning, Brett
4:29
Speaker 1: far Breeze and Rothless Burder, all guys that had concurrent
4:34
Speaker 1: careers with one touchdown Tom. As we get down to Mobile,
4:36
Speaker 1: Alabama at the Senior bowlbl the business of football is
4:39
Speaker 1: still going on in Rapp report might gar a folo there,
4:41
Speaker 1: But guys, when news like this drops, of course there's
4:44
Speaker 1: gonna be a lot of reaction around people who care
4:46
Speaker 1: about the game. There's no doubt about it. It's been
4:50
Speaker 1: the talk of Mobile this morning. Ian your thoughts on this.
4:54
Speaker 1: I mean, I know we had talked to folks about
4:56
Speaker 1: the potential for Tom Brady to land elsewhere. A lot
4:59
Speaker 1: of folks said, you know, it may wind up being
5:01
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay or bust. That turned out to be bust. Yeah,
5:04
Speaker 1: And know I got the sense talking to people who
5:07
Speaker 1: had spoken to Brady over the course of the last
5:09
Speaker 1: two or three weeks, Mike, that uh, Tom Brady heading
5:12
Speaker 1: back to Tampa was probably not something that was gonna happen.
5:14
Speaker 1: I know they wanted him back, just didn't seem like
5:17
Speaker 1: that was really in the cards for a variety of reasons.
5:19
Speaker 1: And then it was like, is he really going to
5:21
Speaker 1: play somewhere else? But somewhere else, I mean somewhere besides Florida.
5:25
Speaker 1: His children are now in Florida in the Miami area.
5:28
Speaker 1: I know he wants to be close to them. That
5:29
Speaker 1: is paramount to him. So was he really going to
5:31
Speaker 1: go to Las Vegas, San Francisco, to Tennessee, somewhere else
5:36
Speaker 1: and be away from his kids? That was really the
5:39
Speaker 1: discussion because, as Eli mentioned, you know, Brady's miles per
5:42
Speaker 1: hour unders those was about the same as it's always been.
5:45
Speaker 1: He still can do it, even though it's a little
5:46
Speaker 1: bit of a down year. This is a family thing,
5:49
Speaker 1: not a football Yes, and you talked about the Buccaneers
5:51
Speaker 1: still holding out hope that he would return. That was
5:54
Speaker 1: part of the discussions with their offensive coordinator candidates that
5:57
Speaker 1: they're having right now. If he comes back, what would
5:59
Speaker 1: be your plan to get him back on track? Well,
6:01
Speaker 1: now they're going to have to shift to another plan.
6:03
Speaker 1: And really it's an interesting pivot point for Tampa Bay
6:05
Speaker 1: because that's an aging roster in a lot of ways,
6:08
Speaker 1: and this could be the impetus for a reset down there.
6:11
Speaker 1: In a lot of ways, they've been stretching the salary
6:13
Speaker 1: cap as much as they possibly could. They're gonna have
6:15
Speaker 1: to manage Brady's cap hit as well. We've seen with
6:19
Speaker 1: some recently recently retired players. You can take that down
6:21
Speaker 1: and spread the cap hit in the future years by
6:24
Speaker 1: doing a post June one retirement designation. So there's ways
6:28
Speaker 1: to push that into the future. But I know Tampa
6:30
Speaker 1: Bay in the past had like to really go year
6:32
Speaker 1: to year with a lot of these cap hits, and
6:34
Speaker 1: they've been pushing some stuff forward, so this again could
6:36
Speaker 1: be the impetus for that. Now, the other way that
6:38
Speaker 1: they could go is some of these veteran quarterbacks that
6:40
Speaker 1: are on the market, plug plug and play right and
6:43
Speaker 1: just try to keep this thing going forward with the
6:45
Speaker 1: veteran guys. So we'll see which way they wind up going.
6:47
Speaker 1: And now there's one fewer and that's the other thing.
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Speaker 1: I mean, Tom Brady retiring isn't just Brady retiring. I
6:51
Speaker 1: mean someone else is not going to have a quarterback
6:53
Speaker 1: And now it's the Bucks. And also it's maybe the
6:56
Speaker 1: Raiders or the forty Niners without a backstop in case
6:58
Speaker 1: brock Party is not ready by training camp. There's this
7:01
Speaker 1: has wide ranging effects, not just on Brady and It's family,
7:05
Speaker 1: but also all of the quarterback needy teams, and so
7:08
Speaker 1: for guys like Derek Carr, for guys like Baker Mayfield.
7:12
Speaker 1: You know, there's Ryan Tannel if he ends up being
7:14
Speaker 1: traded released from the Tennessee Titans. There's a Aaron Rodgers.
7:18
Speaker 1: I heard about him. And Rodgers also possibly may not
7:21
Speaker 1: be back in Green Bay. So that's another situation where
7:23
Speaker 1: you can get a guy that maybe can have some
7:25
Speaker 1: kind of a renaissance like Tom Brady had. You know,
7:28
Speaker 1: maybe it's just time it's run its course in Green Bay.
7:30
Speaker 1: He goes down there, he plays, well, we'll see. We'll
7:32
Speaker 1: see what the Buccaneers wind up doing with the quarterback position,
7:35
Speaker 1: but we know it won't be Tom Brady. Although the
7:37
Speaker 1: joke around here Patrick is are we sure? Yeah, it
7:40
Speaker 1: seems like Tom Brady right now is sure? Well, I'm
7:42
Speaker 1: glad you guys made me feel better. I feel it more.
7:45
Speaker 1: I might not be sure, Untild I'm watching him and
7:48
Speaker 1: watching a game at the same time, and I confirmed
7:50
Speaker 1: that that he's not playing, but we'll see if we've
7:52
Speaker 1: got more from the Senior Bowls. We get set for
7:54
Speaker 1: Saturday's game, which you can see right here on NFL
7:57
Speaker 1: Network thanks to Ian and Mike. Of course, long time
7:59
Speaker 1: Brady teammate Julian Edelman says, you only get one super
8:03
Speaker 1: emotional reaction to the go, so I used mine up
8:06
Speaker 1: I learned from you as a player, teammates, son, brother,
8:08
Speaker 1: and father. Has been the experience of a lifetime. Love you, buddy,
8:11
Speaker 1: ps pickle bark part work, working on the future, working
8:16
Speaker 1: on investments. Let's talk more about the past and touchdown
8:18
Speaker 1: town with Judy Batista and Mike Giardia. Of course, just
8:21
Speaker 1: instant reaction, Judy, because because we've been through this this time,
8:25
Speaker 1: this time, as as he and Mike said, it feels real. Yeah,
8:29
Speaker 1: this one felt a little bit more heartfelt to me.
8:31
Speaker 1: UM and I happened to be covering that last game,
8:34
Speaker 1: the wild card loss to the Dallas Cowboys, UM, and
8:37
Speaker 1: that felt very different. Um. Tom's parents were standing in
8:41
Speaker 1: the tunnel and he went over to them and he
8:44
Speaker 1: kissed his mom and dad. And as his mom turned
8:46
Speaker 1: and walked off the field, she was in tears, and
8:48
Speaker 1: that certainly made you think something was up because we
8:52
Speaker 1: haven't seen them there in that situation. They weren't there
8:55
Speaker 1: last year, for instance, when the Box lost to the
8:57
Speaker 1: Rams and we were all speculating about whether Tom would return. UM.
9:01
Speaker 1: And then at the end of his press conference after
9:04
Speaker 1: that game, UM, Tom sort of came back to the
9:07
Speaker 1: microphone and thanked everybody. He thanked the Tampa organization. He
9:10
Speaker 1: thanks sort of Tampa generally for welcoming him there, and
9:14
Speaker 1: he thanked the local media for how it had treated him. Um,
9:18
Speaker 1: he said with respect. And uh, you know, this was
9:21
Speaker 1: obviously a very different kind of year for Tom Brady. UM.
9:24
Speaker 1: Certainly the football team was not as successful as they
9:27
Speaker 1: wanted it to be and as maybe we all expected
9:29
Speaker 1: it to be. And then obviously we knew that in
9:31
Speaker 1: his personal life, you know, it was a difficult time
9:34
Speaker 1: for him as well, and certainly just watching it from
9:36
Speaker 1: the outside, I was at a number of training camp
9:39
Speaker 1: practices and and then during the season, it certainly didn't
9:43
Speaker 1: seem to be his most fun year in football. And
9:46
Speaker 1: so this was sort of bitter sweet when he when
9:49
Speaker 1: he said thank you to everybody and walked off after
9:51
Speaker 1: that loss, in the wild card game. I Uh, you know,
9:54
Speaker 1: I sort of felt melancholy about it. I thought, boy,
9:56
Speaker 1: if this is it, like, it's a shame it couldn't
9:59
Speaker 1: have a better ending. I'm I'm happy for him if
10:01
Speaker 1: this is what he wants to do, and I'm very
10:03
Speaker 1: happy that he it not fade away. Um, But you know,
10:08
Speaker 1: this is this is a bittersweet moment to watch somebody
10:11
Speaker 1: of the stature finally walk away from the game. Judy
10:15
Speaker 1: did feel like from the outside looking in, it was
10:17
Speaker 1: sort of a joyless year for him, and obviously part
10:19
Speaker 1: of that is tied into success, right He's the ultimate winner.
10:22
Speaker 1: This is the first losing season he's had as a
10:24
Speaker 1: starting quarterback in the National Football League, so I'm sure
10:27
Speaker 1: that impacted him. But as we know, the stuff off
10:29
Speaker 1: the field obviously weighed heavily on him as well. And
10:32
Speaker 1: I mean there were reports from people around him that
10:34
Speaker 1: he lost a considerable bottle weight this year from the
10:36
Speaker 1: stress of it all. Uh, And you could sort of
10:38
Speaker 1: see that in his face. And I think to your point,
10:41
Speaker 1: the way it ended for him and the press conference,
10:44
Speaker 1: there was almost a bit of resignation and you could
10:46
Speaker 1: tell that perhaps he was leaning in that direction to
10:48
Speaker 1: begin with. And I've been asked about seven times already
10:51
Speaker 1: this morning do I think this sticks? And I do
10:54
Speaker 1: because it just it felt real that you know, last year,
10:57
Speaker 1: I know I got some flat because they said it
10:59
Speaker 1: felt a little bit forced because it was released before
11:01
Speaker 1: he released it, right, It came through different channels and
11:04
Speaker 1: took a little for the statement to come out. And
11:06
Speaker 1: you say, boy, if the greatest player of all time
11:09
Speaker 1: is gonna retire, you would think, especially someone who socially
11:12
Speaker 1: as aware as as Brady has been with his various channels, UM,
11:16
Speaker 1: that that would have been planned better and he would
11:18
Speaker 1: have had a good grasp on it. Instead, it felt
11:20
Speaker 1: like a reaction to someone else breaking the news, and
11:23
Speaker 1: forty days later he's back playing football again. This felt
11:26
Speaker 1: like it was real to me. This felt like it
11:29
Speaker 1: was gonna stick. Now, who knows, you know, in the
11:31
Speaker 1: next few months, someone doesn't have a quarterback and you
11:34
Speaker 1: know he's I feel pretty good. But I just feel
11:36
Speaker 1: like to the biggest point here is with the family
11:39
Speaker 1: being in Miami, UM, and obviously his older son being
11:43
Speaker 1: in New York, the idea of being on the East
11:45
Speaker 1: Coast and being able to be more flexible with his
11:47
Speaker 1: schedule and to be able to be a real father
11:50
Speaker 1: to them, I think is really important. It's always been
11:52
Speaker 1: important to him. But now maybe at six you say,
11:56
Speaker 1: all right, it's it's time to begin the next chapter. Yeah,
11:58
Speaker 1: and looking at the way things ended, of course, the
12:01
Speaker 1: season didn't go the way the Buccaneers with Tom Brady
12:03
Speaker 1: wanted it to go. And if this star seems to
12:05
Speaker 1: have dimmed, it's only because of how bright it was
12:09
Speaker 1: for those twenty plus years. Uh, and everything that he
12:11
Speaker 1: had had accomplished during that career. Judy Bautista and Mike
12:14
Speaker 1: Yardy when we as we continue here on NFL now,
12:17
Speaker 1: thanks to you both, tom Brady getting thanks from the
12:20
Speaker 1: University of Michigan saying nobody's ever done it better. Congratulations
12:24
Speaker 1: on one amazing career, Tom Brady. We look closing, it's
12:28
Speaker 1: the dope. Let's get to James Palmer and Mark Ross
12:32
Speaker 1: as well. Uh, just again, Mark reaction to the fact
12:36
Speaker 1: that Tom Brady has finally decided to shut it down.
12:40
Speaker 1: Shut it down again. And you know, look, I'm happy
12:42
Speaker 1: for the guy. The guy is the goat. But I
12:44
Speaker 1: think it was the right time. Not many athletes get
12:47
Speaker 1: a chance to go out on top or relatively close
12:50
Speaker 1: to the top. This guy defied Father Time more than
12:53
Speaker 1: anybody else, particularly for that position, undisputed goat in the NFL,
12:58
Speaker 1: maybe in all of sports. So I think it was
13:01
Speaker 1: the right time when you watched him this year. Some
13:03
Speaker 1: people talk about he could still throw throw it five
13:05
Speaker 1: years from now, ten years from now, he'll still be
13:07
Speaker 1: able to throw it. But there's a lot of other
13:09
Speaker 1: factors that go into high level quarterback play, and I
13:12
Speaker 1: just saw those things sort of diminish in Tom Brady.
13:15
Speaker 1: And I guarantee you he knew that as well. He
13:18
Speaker 1: saw himself kind of going down and and not being
13:21
Speaker 1: able to do the things he used to be able
13:22
Speaker 1: to do at that high level. Could he play next
13:25
Speaker 1: year and sort of having a season like he did
13:27
Speaker 1: this this year? Definitely? But I think even in his
13:30
Speaker 1: mind he knows that super Bowl high level play that
13:33
Speaker 1: he's capable of, it's just not there anymore, uh, you know,
13:37
Speaker 1: So nothing else for this guy to prove in the NFL.
13:40
Speaker 1: And I gotta be I'll be disingenuous if I don't
13:43
Speaker 1: mention whatever I think about Tom Brady. It has to
13:45
Speaker 1: be the two Super Bowls with the New York giants
13:47
Speaker 1: that we beat him with so he can get all
13:49
Speaker 1: the other athletes all day the other other time. But
13:52
Speaker 1: that's what I always remember us going in there, beating
13:54
Speaker 1: them when they were undefeated, uh, and then going to
13:56
Speaker 1: beat him again in two thousand eleven. You know, Mark,
14:00
Speaker 1: since I'm doing this with you, I was kind of
14:02
Speaker 1: starting to think of the front office perspective of it, right,
14:04
Speaker 1: and how the longevity of Tom Brady is the main aspect.
14:08
Speaker 1: Obviously all of us are talking about linking it with
14:10
Speaker 1: the greatest of all time, and and what always stood
14:12
Speaker 1: out to me covering him for a number of years
14:14
Speaker 1: up in New England and doing Super Bowls that he's
14:17
Speaker 1: playing in, and then spending so much time with him
14:19
Speaker 1: down in Tampa in that first season is as he
14:21
Speaker 1: continued to play and we're seeing all these highlights, faces
14:24
Speaker 1: around him would always change, and chemistry, as I mentioned,
14:27
Speaker 1: is so important. He did something that maybe we don't
14:30
Speaker 1: talk about so much with superstar quarterbacks, the ability to
14:33
Speaker 1: relate to everybody in the locker room. That was a
14:35
Speaker 1: big part of how he has made up and how
14:37
Speaker 1: he has built mentally as an individual. And I think
14:41
Speaker 1: being down there in Tampa, if you remember that first
14:43
Speaker 1: year during COVID, there was about six of us that
14:46
Speaker 1: were allowed at practice every single day for a month
14:49
Speaker 1: during training camp, and I was able to watch him
14:52
Speaker 1: do exactly that, find a way to relate to so
14:54
Speaker 1: many different guys that we're all new, all knew how
14:56
Speaker 1: great he was, all knew he was the goat, all
14:58
Speaker 1: knew he was the greatest player in NFL history, And
15:01
Speaker 1: go through that training camp and find a way to
15:04
Speaker 1: bring that group to gether to compete, specifically in a
15:07
Speaker 1: lot of instances in those workouts in August, and how
15:11
Speaker 1: he found a way patrick to get that group to
15:13
Speaker 1: become a super Bowl champion almost instantly because of the
15:16
Speaker 1: way he is wired. Yeah. Just a spectacular finished to
15:19
Speaker 1: a spectacular career, and one will be able to remember
15:22
Speaker 1: for a very long time, and of course even longer
15:25
Speaker 1: if Tom decides he feels good and wants to come
15:27
Speaker 1: back and play football another season. Thanks to James Palmer
15:30
Speaker 1: and Mark Ross who who again shouted out as too
15:33
Speaker 1: super Bowl victories over Tom Brady. I love that Holliday.
15:36
Speaker 1: He shuts it down. This courtesy of the East West
15:40
Speaker 1: Shrine Bowl. Looking back, there is Tom Brady with the
15:43
Speaker 1: Michigan helmet for the last time playing in the East
15:46
Speaker 1: West Shrine Bowl back in the year two thousand. I
15:50
Speaker 1: think did happen after that, certainly did. Looking forward to
15:53
Speaker 1: the Shrine Bowl coming up Thursday. Right here on NFL
15:55
Speaker 1: Network and coming up on NFL Now, we look back
15:59
Speaker 1: at the career of Tom Brady with one of his
16:02
Speaker 1: former teammates, Them Branch, joins us next on NFL Net.
16:05
Speaker 1: When the Plucky up the bomb running bab We're back
16:11
Speaker 1: here on NFL Now with the breaking news I've been
16:14
Speaker 1: breaking all day. Tom Brady electing to call it a
16:17
Speaker 1: career after twenty three seasons, five Super Bowl MVP, seven championships,
16:23
Speaker 1: announcing on social media, keeping it brief, saying you only
16:27
Speaker 1: get one tiery retirement post and he used his up
16:31
Speaker 1: last year. Tom Brady announcing his retirement. Reaction pouring in
16:35
Speaker 1: this one comes courtesy of the New England Patriots official account.
16:38
Speaker 1: Quite the ride. Indeed, thank you, Tom Brady. We've been
16:41
Speaker 1: talking about his career. Let's breakdown one part of that
16:45
Speaker 1: career with a two time Super Bowl champion, former teammate
16:48
Speaker 1: of Tom Brady, Dion Branch, joining us on NFL Now. Dion,
16:52
Speaker 1: you were there for the transformation from Tom Brady to
16:55
Speaker 1: the Tom Brady we knew in the early two thousand's.
16:57
Speaker 1: You leave, then you come back. Were there elements of
17:00
Speaker 1: the goat available to you during that early run in
17:04
Speaker 1: Tom Brady's career. Oh, yes, sir, Pat, they were there
17:07
Speaker 1: from the beginning. You know, you can see the coach
17:10
Speaker 1: be better, checking that the staff did an amazing job
17:12
Speaker 1: of scouting the right guy to lead this program. And
17:16
Speaker 1: he did that for twenty plus, you know, with the
17:19
Speaker 1: nineteen twenty years, you know, and then he left and
17:22
Speaker 1: went on to Tampa Bay and did the exact same
17:24
Speaker 1: thing in Tampa Um he was the right guy and
17:28
Speaker 1: he did exactly what they brought him there to do.
17:31
Speaker 1: And in terms of that decision to go to Tampa Bay,
17:34
Speaker 1: I remember saying that you said at the time that
17:36
Speaker 1: Tom had done all he could do. Do you feel like,
17:40
Speaker 1: in hindsight looking back, that Tom was just looking for
17:42
Speaker 1: one more challenge? I think so, just knowing that the
17:46
Speaker 1: man Tom and my brother, knowing the person who he is,
17:49
Speaker 1: the competitor who he is, I think that's what it was.
17:52
Speaker 1: I said what I said, and I and you know,
17:54
Speaker 1: I stand on it, and I believe that wholeheartedly, that
17:57
Speaker 1: he was just looking for another challenge. And I think
18:00
Speaker 1: that even last year it was a whole another challenge
18:03
Speaker 1: when the world thought Tom Brady was retired, but everybody
18:08
Speaker 1: was trying to control his career, you know. And he
18:10
Speaker 1: came out of retirement with maybe a month or two
18:12
Speaker 1: later and went back on the field and and and
18:15
Speaker 1: played at a very high level again this past season.
18:18
Speaker 1: And I honestly believe that Tom still have more in him.
18:21
Speaker 1: But I think the most important thing right now with
18:23
Speaker 1: Tom is his family. And I think that's what he's
18:25
Speaker 1: worried about, and and mindfully soul out be worried about
18:29
Speaker 1: the same thing. He's getting older. You want to spend
18:31
Speaker 1: more time with these kids, and that's the most important
18:34
Speaker 1: thing to Tom right now. Now, Tom being able to
18:36
Speaker 1: fully focus on his family, getting the side away from
18:40
Speaker 1: being a father, the job of being involved in the broadcast.
18:44
Speaker 1: He'll still be involved are in football. Do you think
18:47
Speaker 1: Tom would ever get back into not the broadcast element,
18:50
Speaker 1: but the actual implementation of the game. You think Tom
18:53
Speaker 1: would be in the front office or coaching somewhere. Do
18:55
Speaker 1: you never see that happening? Yeah, I can foresee that.
18:58
Speaker 1: I don't see Tom coaching, but possibly, you know, front
19:02
Speaker 1: offer his general manager somewhere possible. Hey, who knows, may
19:06
Speaker 1: get to the point where you can try to run
19:07
Speaker 1: a team, you know, own one of the teams. Who knows, Man,
19:11
Speaker 1: sky's a limit with Tom, and trust me, I'll be
19:13
Speaker 1: right there with him from Toad if any opportunity presents
19:16
Speaker 1: itself for for for us to kind of reunite in
19:19
Speaker 1: any facets such as that, I will be there. I
19:22
Speaker 1: will be there for my brother. Therefore there for him
19:25
Speaker 1: early on. And they answer to a trivia question, right
19:28
Speaker 1: if you're looking for why doesn't Tom Brady have seven
19:31
Speaker 1: Super Bowl MVPs, Well, that's because Dion branch uh secured
19:34
Speaker 1: one of those Super Bowl MVPs back with that when
19:39
Speaker 1: uh for Super Bowl thirty four. So congratulations to you again,
19:42
Speaker 1: our congratulations to a great career for your former teammate
19:45
Speaker 1: and Deon. Thanks for joining us on the NFL. Now,
19:47
Speaker 1: thank you all for having you. Great communication. We treat
19:52
Speaker 1: us great communication all night. Huh the fights of all night.
19:55
Speaker 1: All right, great communication, great boys, man, you got a
19:59
Speaker 1: lot of football, right, Greedy dropping going up, caught ball,
20:11
Speaker 1: Chris Godwin touchdown Tampa Bay and the ball off a
20:17
Speaker 1: stunner step touchdown. Tampa Bay Yeah, wat Letty Oh. The
20:24
Speaker 1: Glazer family, team owners for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, issuing
20:27
Speaker 1: a statement. Tom's impacting on our franchise these past three
20:30
Speaker 1: years has been immense. We're appreciative of the time we
20:32
Speaker 1: have with him here in Tampa Bays on an exceptional
20:34
Speaker 1: standard that elevated our entire organization of new heights and
20:38
Speaker 1: created some of the most iconic moments in our history.
20:42
Speaker 1: Tom's impact will be felt within our community for many
20:44
Speaker 1: years to come, and we will forever be grateful for
20:46
Speaker 1: those unforgettable memories that he provided during these final seasons
20:50
Speaker 1: of his legendary career. We wish him the best and
20:52
Speaker 1: the next chapter of his life, and our confident he
20:55
Speaker 1: will find similar success in his future endeavors. Let's get
21:00
Speaker 1: down to Tampa where Sarah Walson joins us, now covering
21:03
Speaker 1: this team for the past few years, almost one siding
21:05
Speaker 1: with Brady's arrival. Sarah, considering the way things went the season,
21:09
Speaker 1: did you see this coming? I really did, but only
21:13
Speaker 1: because it was seeing his parents in that tunnel at
21:17
Speaker 1: the very end of that game against the Cowboys, which
21:19
Speaker 1: would be his last NFL game, and only because I
21:22
Speaker 1: had been around this team so much the last three years,
21:25
Speaker 1: and even on the Super Bowl run. I've seen them
21:28
Speaker 1: before in the field in pregame, but never after a game.
21:31
Speaker 1: And when I saw security bring them down as I
21:33
Speaker 1: was heading out onto the field for that very last time,
21:36
Speaker 1: I just knew in that moment, or at least I
21:38
Speaker 1: knew that this was probably it. In Tampa, it felt
21:41
Speaker 1: that way, and I know Judy talked about it a
21:43
Speaker 1: couple of minutes ago, the things he said at the
21:45
Speaker 1: podium after that loss. He wasn't a guy that really
21:48
Speaker 1: got deeply emotional in front of us. He didn't let
21:50
Speaker 1: his guard down a lot. And it was in that
21:52
Speaker 1: moment where you saw and let his guard down, and
21:54
Speaker 1: I felt to me like when he was saying thank
21:57
Speaker 1: you to the media, it felt to me like he
21:59
Speaker 1: was saying it as if he wasn't going to see
22:01
Speaker 1: us back here in Tampa again. And I think you
22:03
Speaker 1: even saw today how he released the statement, just a
22:06
Speaker 1: simple message on a video that he shot himself. I
22:09
Speaker 1: think he just wanted to step away that way. I
22:11
Speaker 1: don't think there's going to be any kind of you know,
22:13
Speaker 1: big press conference here in Tampa. That's just not how
22:16
Speaker 1: he was going to do it. So that was the
22:18
Speaker 1: moment where I knew that was probably it. Although I
22:20
Speaker 1: will say this year is opposed to last. There wasn't
22:23
Speaker 1: a lot of retirement talk. We heard that a lot
22:25
Speaker 1: last year, and because Tom really didn't allow it, he
22:28
Speaker 1: wasn't really going to answer that, and he was solely
22:30
Speaker 1: focused on trying to get this offense back on track.
22:33
Speaker 1: It wasn't really building towards the end of the year.
22:35
Speaker 1: But it was in that final game that I was like, yep,
22:38
Speaker 1: I think we saw him walk off for the final time,
22:41
Speaker 1: defitting that he gets to dictate that conversation on his
22:44
Speaker 1: our own terms when he finally gets a chance to
22:46
Speaker 1: shut it down. So so looking back, we saw the
22:48
Speaker 1: statement from the Glazers there, what has Tom Brady done
22:50
Speaker 1: for this organization? Well, He's done so much for this organization,
22:54
Speaker 1: and it goes beyond just winning a super Bowl. This
22:56
Speaker 1: organization had won a Super Bowl before and that was
22:59
Speaker 1: their first and only one until Tom came to town,
23:01
Speaker 1: and then they had been sort of in a lull.
23:03
Speaker 1: And what a Tom Brady does for a locker room
23:06
Speaker 1: is something that you really can't put a price tag
23:08
Speaker 1: on because I think that he makes guys believe even
23:11
Speaker 1: in the toughest times, even no matter what the score
23:13
Speaker 1: says on that scoreboard. He made a group of individuals
23:16
Speaker 1: that for the most part, had not even been to
23:18
Speaker 1: the postseason. When we went to the Super Bowl. There
23:20
Speaker 1: were very few guys on that roster that had even
23:22
Speaker 1: playoff experience, and he made them believe that at any
23:26
Speaker 1: point they could still win a game, no matter how
23:29
Speaker 1: much of a deficit they were in. This is a
23:31
Speaker 1: team led by Tom Brady, and they believe, Hey, this
23:34
Speaker 1: guy can lead us to victory. We're down seventeen to
23:37
Speaker 1: nothing at the break, no problem, we can come back
23:39
Speaker 1: and win it. So I think he just really changed
23:41
Speaker 1: a belief in the culture around this place. And now
23:43
Speaker 1: what he leaves behind is a locker room full of
23:45
Speaker 1: guys that know how to do this. And I want
23:47
Speaker 1: to leave you with one thing I saw in the
23:49
Speaker 1: Glazier statement, something about, you know, his unforgettable memories. I
23:52
Speaker 1: think that the most lasting memory that I will take
23:55
Speaker 1: up Tom Brady and his time in Tampa is that
23:57
Speaker 1: Super Bowl trophy toss over the water. I don't know
24:00
Speaker 1: if and when we'll see that again. But I gotta
24:03
Speaker 1: give credit Richster out of the Tampa Bay time. He said,
24:05
Speaker 1: if they arrest a statue of Brady, that should be
24:08
Speaker 1: the statue that's corrected up of outside the stadium. If
24:11
Speaker 1: they ever did that, have it be the toss over
24:13
Speaker 1: the water because that's pretty iconic and it's pretty Tampa
24:16
Speaker 1: Bay in a nutshell here, So that will be my
24:19
Speaker 1: favorite Tom Brady memory here from his time at Tampa. Yeah,
24:22
Speaker 1: of all of the thousands of attempts and completions, it
24:26
Speaker 1: makes sense that that would be the one that would
24:28
Speaker 1: stand out for Tom Brady. Sarah Walsh in Tampa, thank
24:31
Speaker 1: you so much joining us here on NFL Now. Back
24:44
Speaker 1: here on NFL Now with the breaking news of the day,
24:47
Speaker 1: Tom Brady announcing via social media that he has brought
24:52
Speaker 1: his career to an end after twenty three seasons, even
24:55
Speaker 1: setting records. In his final game is three yards in
24:58
Speaker 1: the wild card loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the most
25:01
Speaker 1: in a final playoff game in the history of the NFL.
25:05
Speaker 1: And keep be getting reaction from all over the world.
25:07
Speaker 1: Let's get reaction from Mobile. Alabama's Jimneggie is finishing up.
25:11
Speaker 1: He's the executive director of the recent Senior Bowl, got
25:14
Speaker 1: the game coming up Saturday. But of course, Jim, you
25:16
Speaker 1: were part of two championships with Tom Brady in New England.
25:19
Speaker 1: Your reaction to the goat calling it a career, Well,
25:23
Speaker 1: the first reaction is why do it during Senior Bowl
25:25
Speaker 1: week and take away from the coverage? No, no, it's uh.
25:30
Speaker 1: You know, Tom was actually a freshman at Michigan when
25:33
Speaker 1: I was a senior. So I've I've been following this
25:34
Speaker 1: guy from the time he was about eighteen years old.
25:37
Speaker 1: And and what he's been able to do, I mean,
25:39
Speaker 1: words can't describe, right, you know, you look at the tree,
25:42
Speaker 1: look at the Patriot Tree, um and what he's been
25:45
Speaker 1: able to do to just expand people around the NFL.
25:47
Speaker 1: Like his impact is a lot more than just on
25:49
Speaker 1: the field. You look at front office, as you look
25:51
Speaker 1: at coaching staffs um way beyond most quarterbacks. His legacy
25:55
Speaker 1: is cemented obviously. Um, yeah, it was. It was. It's
25:59
Speaker 1: a big newsday obviously with Tom Brady retired, but incredible,
26:02
Speaker 1: incredible career and also sending guys in into their careers
26:06
Speaker 1: looking for the next and people will be looking for
26:07
Speaker 1: a long time. Let's talk about the next crop of
26:09
Speaker 1: NFL stars down there in Mobile. Jim, Who's standing out
26:12
Speaker 1: this week? Well, yesterday I haven't digested this morning's practice
26:18
Speaker 1: as much, but yesterday going back and watching some of
26:21
Speaker 1: that tape, a couple of receivers really stood out. Stanfords
26:23
Speaker 1: Elijah Higgins one of the best size speed combinations in
26:26
Speaker 1: this year's draft, um out of Stanford, and then Tank
26:29
Speaker 1: Dell from Houston. Much different size, We're talking about more
26:32
Speaker 1: of a slot sized player. He really stood out on
26:35
Speaker 1: the offensive line. Dawan Jones had a big day from
26:37
Speaker 1: Ohio State, Cody Malch from North Dakota State. And on
26:40
Speaker 1: the d line, I would say key On White uh
26:43
Speaker 1: from Georgia Tech, Carl Brooks from Bowling Green. But we
26:46
Speaker 1: could we could probably go position group by position group
26:49
Speaker 1: and go over those guys. But a lot of guys
26:51
Speaker 1: had a good day on on Day one. Of course,
26:53
Speaker 1: a lot of the reaction early in the week every
26:55
Speaker 1: year are comes from the measurements. So where we finally
26:57
Speaker 1: get because we look at the rosters all the time
26:59
Speaker 1: in college, we don't know what's uh here for there,
27:01
Speaker 1: But to one, Jones has some measurements that we just
27:04
Speaker 1: haven't seen Have you seen anything like this before? No, no,
27:10
Speaker 1: And you know, scouts, we only started doing wingspan measurements
27:14
Speaker 1: probably about fifteen years ago. I've been in scouting for
27:16
Speaker 1: twenty five. We didn't do that for about for a
27:19
Speaker 1: long time. We just started doing it in eighty nine
27:21
Speaker 1: and a half inches, So what we're equate to a
27:23
Speaker 1: seven ft five wingspan just incredible um and and three
27:28
Speaker 1: seventy five pounds. And the crazy thing is that if
27:31
Speaker 1: you watch him play, so he's got this crazy reach
27:33
Speaker 1: which is hard to get around. If he just gets
27:35
Speaker 1: his arms extended, then he's got basketball player feet. He
27:38
Speaker 1: was a great high school basketball player in Indianapolis. So
27:41
Speaker 1: Um had a great day one right now he's he's
27:44
Speaker 1: dealing with a little injury situation, but he really helped
27:47
Speaker 1: himself in the one day. Has been on the field
27:49
Speaker 1: so far, and looking forward to getting some new guys
27:52
Speaker 1: on the field today. Are excited to see some debuts
27:55
Speaker 1: here late this week on in Singer Bowl week. Yeah,
27:59
Speaker 1: Malik Cunningham's out, you know, yesterday he had a little
28:02
Speaker 1: a little bug, but he's back out here today. It's
28:04
Speaker 1: a little bit of a homecoming for Malik Um. He's
28:07
Speaker 1: right up from my sixty five in Montgomery, Alabama. So
28:10
Speaker 1: big day for him. He's actually out here with a
28:12
Speaker 1: high school teammate, Grant Dubos from Charlotte, who we added
28:15
Speaker 1: last year or last week as well, on the same day.
28:17
Speaker 1: They're both from Montgomery. I knew that when I add
28:20
Speaker 1: Grant on the phone, I told him that we were
28:21
Speaker 1: bringing mo leak in. I said, did you guys go
28:23
Speaker 1: to camps or anything in high school together? He got
28:25
Speaker 1: It's like, Jim, we were high school teammates. So that's
28:28
Speaker 1: a pretty cool story and to follow this week as well.
28:30
Speaker 1: But yeah, good to get Mileek out here. Um explosive runner.
28:33
Speaker 1: I can't wait to seem throw it around a little
28:35
Speaker 1: bit today. Yeah, we'll have memories that the last forever
28:39
Speaker 1: and the chance to look back at some of these
28:40
Speaker 1: guys making their last appearance wearing those college helmets. Looking
28:44
Speaker 1: forward to all of Senior Bowl practice, which you can
28:46
Speaker 1: see live on NFL Plus and in the game on Saturday.
28:49
Speaker 1: We'll try to keep anybody else from retiring Jim as
28:51
Speaker 1: we look forward to the recent Senior Bowl right here
28:55
Speaker 1: on NFL Network. Thanks thanks Patrick. NFL Now is a
29:06
Speaker 1: production of the NFL in partnership with i heart Radio.
29:09
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i
29:12
Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.