Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady is retiring after 22 seasons in the NFL, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington.
Although, the quarterback’s agent, Don Yee, released a statement saying any final word on his career will come from the quarterback himself and has not officially retired.
It’s unknown when he’ll make an announcement, leaving his team guessing and fans hoping for one more run that seems unlikely considering his age and family situation.
ESPN first reported Brady’s retirement on Saturday, citing unidentified sources. Brady’s company posted a tweet indicating he’s retiring, and reaction came from around the world congratulating Brady on his career. Even the NFL’s Twitter account posted a series of congratulatory messages, but TB12sports deleted its tweet.
The defending Super Bowl champs, Brady and the Bucs were bounced from the playoffs last weekend at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams.
The 44-year-old spent two seasons in Tampa Bay after 20 years with the New England Patriots. Brady brought a championship to Tampa in his first season after leading New England to six titles.
Brady had a productive 2021 season and finds himself among the frontrunners for NFL MVP after throwing 43 touchdown passes and 5,316 yards, both of which led the league.
He sees his name at the top of NFL records, having the most passing yards (84,520), completions (7,263) and touchdowns (624) in NFL history.
Of his seven Super Bowls, Brady was named Super Bowl MVP five times in his career and won the award in 2020 when the Bucs took down the Kansas City Chiefs.
In his career, Brady started 47 games in the playoffs, the most of any player in league history.
The No. 199 overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft, Brady would go on to win three league MVP’s and was named to the Pro Bowl 15 times.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.