Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady revealed why he almost unretired from the NFL.
On Sunday, Brady, 46, reminisced on the past year in a post on his Instagram page and spoke about his initial plans to play football again.
“The only downside to 2023 was when I was about to unretire in May and my friends threw a surprise retirement party. Kind of forced my hand,” he wrote.
In his post, the NFL star shared, “Looking back on 2023 grateful for every moment. Cherishing the highs, learning from the lows, and looking forward to what’s coming next.”
Brady continued, “I’m blessed to have family and friends filled with so much love, joy, and compassion surrounding me. As you get older, you realize that this is really the only thing that matters, and I’ll never take these people for granted.”
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Additionally, Brady encouraged his followers by saying, “Hug your kids, call your parents, tell your friends that you love them, and let’s all help make 2024 a kinder and happier year for everyone in our lives.”
On Feb. 1, 2022, Brady announced his retirement from football after he first announced his retirement plans in early 2022 only to return to playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 40 days later, per ESPN. In his video, he thanked his loved ones for allowing him to live his “absolute dream.”
In an interview with NBC 10 Boston, Brady revealed his plans following his retirement.
“It’s a big year of kind of recalibrating some different things. I’m just trying to set my priorities and allow my time and energy to be focused on those. In the short term, it’s being there for my children and being the best dad I can be and being as present as I can with them,” he said.
Additionally, he said he loved working with the car rental company Hertz, which he likely planned to do “probably more longer term” amongst other endeavors.
“I invest the time and energy in my apparel brand, my health and wellness brand obviously is so important to me. I have a small media business that I’ve been really working hard at and then obviously working with Fox and then going through this process of ownership with the Raiders,” he said, adding, “All of them bring me joy in different ways.”