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Tom Brady said Monday that despite announcing his retirement, he knew he could still manage another season in the NFL and that he was starting to think about a return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when free agency began last month. .
“I knew my body, physically, could still do what it could, and of course I have a love for the game, I think I always want a love for the game,” Brady told ESPN. “I physically think I will be able to do that. I just felt like there was still a place for me on the field.”
When he retired on February 1, he spent time with his wife and children and reflected on the decision to leave football alone. He started to get the feeling that he should still play.
He talked to people he had built relationships with in Tampa, including former coach Bruce Arians, and eventually decided he was not done yet. Brady said the love for his teammates and the excitement over the challenge the organization will face when defensive coordinator Todd Bowles took over.
But the way the season ended – with a 30-27 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional playoff game – just did not really fit with him.
“At the end of the day, I just love the competition on the course,” said Brady, who spoke to ESPN a day before launching his new golf collection through his performance clothing brand, BRADY. “And last year was a very bitter end to a season and we have to make a lot of corrections to try to improve ourselves and put ourselves in a better position to be successful going forward.”
Brady does not know how much longer he has left to play football, but with his body feeling ready for the task, he did not want to sit on the sidelines and miss another chance for a successful season with his teammates.
“I know I do not have much left, I really have. I know I am at the end of my career,” Brady said. “I wish you could go on forever, but it just is not and football has too high a cost now. My kids are getting older and it’s just getting harder and harder to miss these things.
“But I wanted to give myself and my teammates and our organization another incredible opportunity to achieve something that we would all be very proud of.”
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