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NFL Legend Tom Brady Addresses Decision to (Technically) Come Out of Retirement

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Angelo Guinhawa | Last updated Sep 16, 2025 8:32 AM ET

New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers legend Tom Brady retired from the NFL in 2023 after a historic 23-year career. Now, the seven-time Super Bowl champion is focused on his business, his role as a minority team owner and his broadcasting career.

In 2026, however, Brady has plans to come out of retirement ... well, sort of.

On Monday, Brady announced that he's taking part in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic, which is set to be played at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on March 21, 2026.

In a video he shared on Instagram, Brady described the event as the "greatest flag football game ever" and said that he's "technically coming out of retirement" to play in it.

"I couldn’t be more excited to get back on the field and bring #TheFanaticsFlagFootballClassic to life during #RiyadhSeason with @Fanatics and @obb," Brady wrote in the caption of his post.

"Fired up to compete with some of the game’s biggest stars and legends, and showcase flag football on a global stage. Now let’s go win this trophy!

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A post shared by Tom Brady (@tombrady)

Tom Brady has not played any type of organized football since he called it a career three seasons ago. However, he has stayed in shape and should be more than ready to go on the field six months from now.

Aside from Brady, Myles Garrett, Rob Gronkowski, Saquon Barkley, Odell Beckham Jr., Christian McCaffrey, Sauce Gardner, CeeDee Lamb, Maxx Crosby and Tyreek Hill are also expected to participate in the game.

Pete Carroll, Sean Payton and Kyle Shanahan have been tapped to serve as coaches for the three teams that will be created.

More players will be added in the coming months, with the three teams set to have eight players each.

Sure enough, it will be interesting to see which players will team up with Brady. Perhaps fans will get to see a TB12-Gronk reunion.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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