At 44 years old, Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Tom Brady remains the best quarterback in the NFL. That’s not hyperbole.
Fresh off leading Tampa to the Super Bowl title in his first season with the team, the seven-time champion is off to a historic start to the 2021 campaign. In fact, Brady is on pace to shatter the individual season records for completions, attempts and passing yards.
Ahead of his Buccaneers taking on the Philadelphia Eagles Thursday night, Brady caught up with the Amazon Prime duo of Hannah Storm and Andrea Kramer. In the process, he came up with a pretty interesting claim about his longevity in the NFL.
“I really think I can play as long as I want. I really do. I could literally play until I’m 50 or 55 if I wanted to,” Brady said. “I don’t think I will obviously…my physical body won’t be the problem. I think it will just be, I’m just missing too much of life with my family.”
At this point, it’s hard to even counter that opinion. Brady is doing things at 44 that other quarterbacks in their prime could scarcely imagine. Consider this. Seven more touchdowns, and the GOAT will have thrown for more scores in his 40s than he did in his 20s. That’s absolutely jaw-dropping.
Will Brady hit that proverbial wall?
Father Time catches up to everyone. Just look at two of the greatest quarterbacks in modern NFL history. Peyton Manning’s final season with the Denver Broncos back in 2015 saw him throw nine touchdowns compared to 17 interceptions. That came after the Hall of Famer earned Pro Bowl trips in each of his previous 12 full seasons.
Last season saw New Orleans Saints star Drew Brees put up his worst statistical performance since 2007. Ultimately, the future first-ballot Hall of Famer opted to retire.
In no way are we saying that Brady will follow suit. There’s a good chance that he’ll opt to retire while he’s still at the top of the game. We wouldn’t want it any other way.
From an historical perspective, Hall of Famer George Blanda is best known for playing until he was 48 years old. However, the latter part of his career was spent as a field-goal kicker and backup quarterback for the then-Oakland Raiders.
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