If you were hoping for the confusion behind Tom Brady’s supposed retirement to end soon, think again.
At first it was reported earlier today that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback would be calling it a career, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington broke the news that shook the NFL world.
But it didn’t take long for some to refute these reports, as rumors started to circulate that Brady hand not officially retired just yet.
First, his agent released a message stating that, until Brady officially announces his retirement, nothing is official. Shortly after that, it was being reported that Brady had called Bucs GM Jason Licht to reiterate that he had not yet made his decision.
We’ve also heard from Brady’s father, Tom Brady Sr., as well as his head coach Bruce Arians. Both also made it clear that TB12 was not yet retired.
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First, Brady Sr. claimed that the “unsubstantiated rumor” was spread by an online source. Then Arians claimed that he had heard nothing from Brady, which was a clear sign that nothing was official just yet.
Despite all these contrary reports, ESPN is not shying away from their original report. Rather, they’re doubling down on Brady’s retirement announcement, claiming that they stand by their initial claims that the GOAT was done.
ProFootballTalk points out some rather interesting points that seem to support ESPN’s claim. Specifically, they point to Schefter and Darlington’s relationships with Brady and those close to his inner circle. According to them, it would be unlikely that both ESPN analysts would break that type of news if it was false, based on their relationships with Brady.
Despite all the contradicting reports, the official word at the moment is Brady has not yet retired…
But it seems more and more likely that we’ll be heading towards that announcement in the very near future. As PFT also pointed out, it is not Brady’s intention to take any attention away from the ongoing NFL Playoffs. So it could only be a matter of waiting for the season to end before we get an official word on Brady’s future.
