Tom Brady took many by surprise earlier this year by announcing he would step away from football after 22 seasons. However, it didn’t take long for the seven-time Super Bowl winner to change his mind.
“These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands. That time will come. But it’s not now,” Brady tweeted to announce he would return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 2022 NFL season.
While that was a shocking turn of events for many people, others never believed he was actually retiring. In addition to Joe Burrow, Bucs teammate Leonard Fournette was also confident that Brady would come back.
Leonard Fournette knew that Brady wouldn’t retire for long
“I kind of knew because I told him I want to say two days after the game, I’m like, ’T, we can’t go out like that,'” Fournette said about the Bucs loss to Rams in the 2021-22 playoffs, via ProFootballTalk. “And he agreed with me. Like, we left too many mistakes on the field that kind of messed us up and we were playing catch-up the whole game. So I think as a champion, I knew he wouldn’t want to go out like that for his legacy.
“He hasn’t lost a step. He is who he is. And me just being alongside him these three years, I wouldn’t want any other guy back there with us. He deserves everything he’s got and that’s coming to him. And I’m just proud of him.”
Brady can’t tell for how long he will continue to play, but he knows what he’ll be doing next: calling games for Fox Sports as their lead NFL analyst. But that can wait, as there’s still an entire season – and who knows how more – ahead of him.
