Tom Brady revealed in a roundtable discussion how difficult the decision was for him to continue his career and postpone his announced retirement. Aaron Rodgers also spoke about the end of his career.

Munich – Actually, Tom Brady had already ended his NFL career. On 1 February 2022, the seven-time Super Bowl winner announced his retirement. However, this decision did not last too long.

Around six weeks later, on 13 March, the quarterback changed his mind and announced that he would play one more season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But how did this decision come about?

In a roundtable discussion with quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, held at a golf event and broadcast on “TNT”, Brady spoke of his inner conflict.

“You know, at this point, it’s like, 55 percent you say yes and 45 percent you say no. That’s just the reality,” Brady reported. “That doesn’t mean I’m not 100 per cent committed. As soon as I commit to doing it, it’s like, ‘Ugh. Alright, here we go’. It’s like running a marathon. You can’t decide two weeks before the marathon to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to start running.'”

In the end, though, his sporting ambition won out. “We got straight into Free Agency and I felt some pressure to do that. I talked to the team and the organisation and it all worked out.” Brady will already be 45 in August.

Patrick Mahomes on Tom Brady: “He’ll play until they take him off the field “

According to Mahomes and Allen, it was clear that Brady would not end his career just yet. “He’s going to play until they take him off the field,” Mahomes said.

Allen added: “I got asked the question in interview after interview, ‘What do you think about Tommy retiring? What do you think? What do you think?’ I always said, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’ I said, ‘Come on, if he’s still not playing in Week 6, maybe I’ll believe it then’… Of course, he’s back now and we’re glad he’s back.”

The 38-year-old Rodgers was also asked how present the thought of retirement is with him. His response, “I think about it all the time.” He had even thought about it very loudly during the offseason, but then signed a new contract with the Green Bay Packers that runs through 2025.

Aaron Rodgers can see the end coming

Rodgers further explained, “The older you get, the more the interests change, and the grind wears you down a little more and more. The football is the easy part. It’s the joy. It’s the other stuff that wears you down and makes you think about life after football. Tommy, of course, set the bar so high because he played so many years. But I can definitely see the end coming. “