Tom Brady still under center in the NFL in his mid-40s? He reiterated his intention to play that long in an ESPN interview.
"I always said my mid-40s," Brady told ESPN's Ian O'Connor, "and naturally that means around 45. If I get there and I still feel like I do today, I don't see why I wouldn't want to continue."
And, Brady said his wife, supermodel Giselle Bundchen, has signed off on it, too.
"My wife says lots of things sometimes," Brady said. "She makes decisions for our family that I've got to deal with. Hopefully she never says, 'Look, this has to be it.' ... My wife and my kids, it's a big investment of their time and energy, too."
She wants me to do that, too. She also wants me to take good care of myself and still have my energy. My kids have grown up faster than I thought.
The expansive piece, headlined "Surpassing Michael Jordan as ultimate GOAT is Tom Brady's last challenge", theorizes that Brady has surpassed his idol Joe Montana as the greatest QB of all time ("I don't agree with that," TB12 said) and is now taking aim, at least in public perception, at Michael Jordan and his six championships when it comes to G.O.A.T. status.
As for when he'll stop playing, "45 is a pretty good number right now," Brady said.
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"I think 45 is a pretty good number for right now. I know the effort it takes to be 40...My love for the sport will never go away. I don't think at 45 it will go away. At some point, everybody moves on. Some people don't do it on their terms. I feel I want it to be on my terms. I've got to make appropriate choices on how to do that, how to put myself in the best position to reach my long-term goals."