Seth Udinski, FISM News
FISM News reported on Saturday that NFL legend Tom Brady was retiring after 22 seasons in the league. This report was confirmed by multiple sources, including ESPN insider Adam Schefter:
Tom Brady is retiring from football after 22 extraordinary seasons, multiple sources tell @JeffDarlington and me.
More coming on https://t.co/rDZaVFhcDQ. pic.twitter.com/6CHWmMlyXg
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 29, 2022
Quickly following these reports there were several outlets who refuted this claim, saying that Brady had not officially announced his retirement, and these reports were speculative.
The Sporting News ran a report on Monday revealing that multiple sources close to Brady, including Brady’s own father, claim the retirement storyline is false and that Brady has not decided to hang up his cleats just yet.
Checked in with Tom Brady Sr. who tells me, and I quote, "This story Mike is total conjecture. Tommy has not made a final decision one way or the other and anybody else that says that he has is absolutely wrong." #TomBrady #Buccaneers
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) January 29, 2022
Even Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said he had no knowledge of any impending retirement announcement:
Tom Brady hasn’t informed the Bucs that he’s retiring. Bruce Arians told me, “He hasn’t. Not even close to making up his mind yet. He told us.”
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) January 29, 2022
Sources have also said that Brady has not yet informed the Buccaneers’ executives of a decision one way or the other:
Report for @BallySports: Tom Brady contacted @Buccaneers GM Jason Licht and told him he has not yet made a final decision on retirement, disputing the ESPN report. Licht is respecting Brady's process and waiting for a definitive answer, whenever it comes, from the QB.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) January 29, 2022
It now seems the consensus among sports reporters is that while there has been speculation of Brady’s retirement since he is 44 years old, he has not yet come to a final decision.
Brady has previously said that he would like to play at a high level until he is physically no longer able to do so. Since he is coming off of one his best statistical seasons of his career, it would seemingly make sense for Brady to return next season, according to this reasoning.
While speculation abounds, only Brady himself knows which way he is leaning.
FISM News will continue to follow this story and provide updates as they develop.