Tom Brady makes shocking claim about potential NFL comeback

After legendary quarterback Tom Brady retired "for good" in early 2023, he insisted on multiple occasions that year that he was committed to staying retired and to serving as Fox's lead NFL in-game analyst. The seven-time Super Bowl champion made those comments before he was officially approved to be a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. 

During a Thursday interview with Alex Sherman of CNBC, Brady was asked if he had explored the NFL's policy regarding a minority owner possibly playing. Brady's response about that potential comeback is bound to raise some eyebrows. 

NFL doesn't "like" the idea of Tom Brady playing as a team owner?

"I actually have inquired, and they don’t like that idea very much," Brady responded. "We explored a lot of different things, and I’m very happily retired. Let me just say that, too." 

From watching a video of the interview, it seems that Brady was joking. Nevertheless, an NFL spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that Brady would need to divest his ownership stake in the Raiders if the 48-year-old was serious about unretiring for a second time. 

Shortly after Philip Rivers shockingly ended his retirement to join the Indianapolis Colts this past December, Brady acknowledged that he "can’t unretire" as a minority owner of the Raiders.  

Tom Brady seems to address reports about role with Raiders

Multiple reports from earlier this winter suggested that Brady is serving as "the de facto boss when it comes to football matters" for the Raiders. Without directly saying so, he seemed to address those stories on Thursday. 

"I’m a minority owner," Brady continued. "So, when you’re that, there’s really no job description. I don’t have really a daily role. You know, my phone call is always available to everybody who needs it. I want to see everyone succeed, be their best, bring a winning kind of a culture to Las Vegas — to bring the Raiders back to glory. I’d love to be a part of it."

Also on Thursday, Brady appeared on Fox Business' "Mornings with Maria" program and spoke about calling games for the network while having a direct association with a single team. 

"I could never have imagined the joy I find being able to be on camera with my great partner Kevin Burkhardt, our entire team, and communicating to all our fans how incredible the game of football is and how sports brings together communities," Brady explained, per Ryan Gaydos of Fox News Digital. "I see it every week when I go to these amazing stadiums, and it feels really nice walking into stadiums and not getting booed by everybody anymore. There’s more cheers than I realize, like, 'Oh man, maybe they respected me a little more than I thought.'"

In 2022, Brady and Fox agreed to a 10-year deal reportedly worth $375M. In short, the future Hall of Famer has millions of reasons to no longer take crunching hits on NFL Sundays.