Tom Brady announces he’s retiring

After snubbing Patriots fans earlier in his lengthy list of shout-outs in his nine-frame Instagram post announcing his retirement, Tom Brady thanked the New England Patriots faithful in a post to Instagram stories today.

“Thank you @patriots and Patriot Nation,” Brady posted on his story. “Beyond Grateful and Love You All.”

He tweeted a similar message, too:

What this is about: In a goodbye announcement posted to his social media earlier today, Tom Brady wrote: “I have loved my NFL career, and now it is time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention.”

Brady thanked his wife, kids and parents; his trainer Alex Guerrero; and his agents, Don Yee and Dubin. The seven-time Super Bowl winner also sent thanks to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans, the city of Tampa and the Tampa-St. Petersburg region, team owners the Glazer family, his coach Bruce Arians and “every single Bucs staffer and employee.”

But missing from the list of mentions in Brady’s initial note, however, was anyone affiliated with the New England Patriots organization or the team’s fans.

Following the announcement of his retirement from the NFL today, the Pro Football Hall of Fame tweeted that Tom Brady will be eligible for induction into the hall starting in 2027.

Some context: Hall of Fame rules dictate that players are only eligible to have their names on the ballot at least five years after retirement.

The Hall of Fame followed up its tweet with another listing off some of Brady’s accomplishments during his 22-year career.

Tom Brady embraces New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft after defeating the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.

New England Patriots team owner Robert Kraft said in a statement today that “words cannot describe the feelings I have for Tom Brady, nor adequately express the gratitude my family, the New England Patriots and our fans have for Tom for all he did during his career.”

Kraft continued: “A generation of football fans have grown up knowing only an NFL in which Tom Brady dominated. He retires with nearly every NFL career passing record, yet the only one that ever mattered to him was the team’s win-loss record.”

Kraft noted that in Brady’s career, “his teams qualified for the playoffs 19 times. He led his teams to 10 Super Bowls, winning an NFL-record seven championships.”

Read Kraft’s full statement:

Tom Brady celebrates after a 98-yard touchdown run in November 2020.

After Tom Brady announced his retirement from the NFL, other teams jumped in to honor the seven-time Super Bowl winner — or to take a jab at him.

The Denver Broncos tweeted out congratulations with a photo of Brady and former quarterback Peyton Manning. The two had a well-known rivalry when Brady was on the New England Patriots and Manning played with the Indianapolis Colts and Broncos.

And the Colts threw some serious shade with a “Spongebob” meme.

Meanwhile, the New York Jets had this to say about his announcement, after numerous reports of Brady’s retirement swirled over the weekend:

The team also added: “We may not miss seeing you on the field, but the entire football world will,” saying Brady had “a first-ballot, Hall of Fame career.”

An hour after Brady’s announcement, the New England Patriots — who Brady played with for 20 seasons — tweeted their thanks and congratulations with an illustration of Brady riding one of Boston’s famous river Duck Tour boats into the sunset.

Carlton Davis, a Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback, responded to Brady’s Instagram post with “Congrats” and at least 50 goat emojis. GOAT stands for “Greatest Of All Time,” and Brady is getting many messages with the nickname today.

Celebrities and athletes such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Michael Phelps and Alex Rodriguez also commented with their congratulations. Shaquille O’Neal commented “no man get your butt up and do one more year” — and then replied “love u bro absolute joy to watch.”

The New England Patriots reacted to the news of Tom Brady’s retirement on Twitter with a message that said “It was quite the ride” featuring artwork of Brady in his Number 12 jersey riding a duck boat off into the sunset.

Brady spent 20 seasons with the New England Patriots before going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Some of you may be confused about the duck boat? Don’t be. The duck boats are famous around Boston. If you’re in Boston and want to take a tour of the city, you can hop on one of the amphibious vehicles.

The duck boats have also been a staple of many of the area professional sports franchises’ victory parades. Over the years, Brady personally found himself atop a duck boat while hoisting the Lombardi Trophy throughout the city. During his 20 seasons as a Patriot, the team won six Super Bowls.

President Joe Biden, left, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Bryan Glazer, center, listen as Tom Brady speaks during a ceremony at the White House honoring the Buccaneers' Super Bowl win in July.

Owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Glazer family, posted on Twitter following Tom Brady’s retirement announcement: “Saying goodbye to a legend is never easy, but we wish him continued success in retirement.”

The seven-time Super Bowl champion Brady won his final ring with the Bucs last season. Brady and the Bucs defeated the Chiefs, 31-9. Brady was also named Super Bowl MVP.

Read the tweet:

Tom Brady looks on before Super Bowl XXXVIII between the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers in 2004.

In a lengthy goodbye note posted to his social media, Tom Brady wrote: “I have loved my NFL career, and now it is time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention.”

In the message, which filled nine photo grid frames on Instagram, Brady thanked his wife, kids and parents; his trainer Alex Guerrero; and his agents, Don Yee and Dubin. The seven-time Super Bowl winner also sent thanks to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans, the city of Tampa and the Tampa-St. Petersburg region, team owners the Glazer family, his coach Bruce Arians and “every single Bucs staffer and employee.”

“To my Bucs teammates the past two years, I love you guys, and I have loved going to battle with you,” Brady wrote.

Missing from the list of mentions in Brady’s note, however, was anyone affiliated with the New England Patriots organization, like his former coach Bill Belichick and the team owner that drafted Brady, Robert Kraft.

Here’s a breakdown of Tom Brady’s 20 seasons with the Patriots: Brady was selected by the Patriots with the 199th pick of the 2000 NFL Draft. He wasn’t meant to be the starting quarterback; the Patriots already had three-time Pro Bowl selection Drew Bledsoe.

The Boston Herald reported Belichick said the team took Brady because he was the highest-rated player still available in the sixth round.

After Brady had a good training camp and preseason, the Patriots made the rare move of keeping him as a fourth-string quarterback.

He moved up the depth chart and in the second game of Brady’s second season Bledsoe suffered a severe injury when he was slammed to the ground.

When Brady took over, the Patriots were coming off a losing season and had struggled in two losses to open the 2001 season.

But the young quarterback led them to 11 wins in their last 14 regular-season games and on to Super Bowl XXXVI. There the Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams on a last-second field goal after Brady completed five passes on the game-winning drive. It was the first of five times he would be selected as most valuable player in the game.

The Patriots collected more Vince Lombardi trophies in 2004, 2005, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

His best season might have been in 2007, when the Patriots went undefeated in the regular season as Brady threw for a then-record 50 touchdowns and completed a league-high 68.9% of his passes. But the New York Giants upset the Patriots in one of the most exciting Super Bowls ever.

The National Football League’s commissioner Roger Goodell reacted to news of Tom Brady’s official retirement announcement, saying he’ll be remembered as “as one of the greatest to ever play in the NFL.”

 Here’s his full statement: 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers tweeted a video montage of Tom Brady’s time with the team following news that he would be retiring from the NFL.

Brady spent 20 seasons with the New England Patriots before going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He helped the Tampa team helped win the Super Bowl last year.

“Forever a part of Buccaneers history,” the team tweeted.

Tom Brady throws the ball during a game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints in October.

Some of you might be saying right now: Wait, didn’t Tom Brady already retire over the weekend?

Here’s what happened a few days ago:

On Saturday, Jan. 30, ESPN first reported that Brady was retiring, citing unnamed sources. The Boston Globe reported that an NFL source confirmed the news.

But as the reports continued to spread on Saturday, some close to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback told media outlets that his future is still undecided.

Brady’s father Tom Brady Sr. told NFL Network’s Mike Giardi that the reports of Brady’s retirement are “total conjecture.”

On Saturday, multiple reports said Brady hadn’t yet told the Buccaneers about his retirement, and Bucs coach Bruce Arians said he also hadn’t been informed that Brady was ready to hang up his cleats.

ESPN’s Jenna Laine reported that when she asked if Brady has informed the team he’s retiring, Arians told her, “He hasn’t. Not even close to making up his mind yet. He told us.”

Now, three days later, the seven-time Super Bowl champion has officially confirmed that he’s walking away from football.