Tom Brady ‘fearful’ of what lies ahead after Hall of Fame NFL career

Tom Brady continues to fend off Father Time well into his 40s, but the future Hall of Fame quarterback nevertheless admits that walking away one day from the NFL fills him with some sense of dread.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signal-caller recently participated in an interview during which the issue of his NFL future was addressed. While Brady believes he can play at a high level for years to come, the notion that retirement is unfortunately the unavoidable endgame regardless of how long he’s able to hold it off.

“I have a lot to give,” the 43-year-old quarterback said on Hodinkee Radio, a wristwatch outlet he’s invested in, while discussing his desire to help others, including mentoring young players, as transcribed by the New York Post.

“I think there’s a lot of time and energy still focused on being a great quarterback, that when that’s done, although I’m a little fearful of it ending, I am open to the belief that there will be a lot of opportunities for me to do things that I haven’t had a chance to do that I really think I can help a lot of people.”

Brady obviously will have no shortage of opportunities once his playing days are over, both within and outside the NFL world, and he’s already proved himself to be a savvy entrepreneur and skilled businessman. While there’s no doubt that it will be difficult for Brady to retire — whenever that time indeed arrives — odds are he’ll find myriad ways to occupy all the newly realized free time.

Every NFL offseason is peppered with speculative reporting about when Brady will finally begin to show his age and retirement becomes inevitable. The seven-time Super Bowl champion has long pushed back at such chatter, saying in 2019 while still with the New England Patriots that he takes matters concerning his short- and long-term future in football “day by day.”

What is known at this point is that Brady will be back to defend his latest championship with the Bucs in 2021 and beyond. The three-time NFL MVP signed an extension with the Bucs in March that will keep him in Tampa through at least the 2022 season. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Brady is contemplating hanging up his cleats for good then, when he’ll be an almost incomprehensible 45 years old.

“I think I’m just hanging on to those last moments where I still feel like I have the competitive desire to train hard and put my team in a position to succeed,” Brady said. “I took on a big challenge going to Tampa, I don’t think the final story has been written yet.”