Tampa Bay Buccaneers star makes claim about Tom Brady coming out of retirement
Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive back Antoine Winfield Jr believes the team is still trying to talk quarterback Tom Brady out of retirement this offseason.
Brady, 45, retired from football "for good" on February 1 after doing the same one year earlier before reversing that decision 40 days later and playing in the 2022 season. Five months have passed since calling time on his career for the second time, and Brady shows no signs of making another comeback.
Instead, the long-time quarterback is in the process of becoming a minority owner in the Las Vegas Raiders after already investing in a WNBA franchise, the Las Vegas Aces. Taking a stake in an NFL team would prevent Brady from playing in the league under its current rules.
He also has a lucrative broadcasting contract with Fox that begins next year. In the meantime, after 22 years of playing professionally, Brady is spending quality time with his children this summer for the first extended time in their lives.
Despite all those other commitments, rumours about Brady returning to the sport do not stop. Winfield is hardly helping the prospect of that happening with these comments.
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After playing alongside Brady in all three of his years in Tampa, the Pro Bowler is not giving up the hope of having a fourth alongside the only starting quarterback he has ever known. And apparently, neither is the front office.
“I’m sure we’re still reaching out to him, trying to see if he’s willing to come back to the team,” Winfield said during an appearance on The Richard Sherman Podcast. “Hey, it could happen. Anything’s possible,” the back added, channeling his inner Kevin Garnett.
Addressing the last offseason, Winfield openly admitted to being caught off guard by Brady's initial retirement U-turn. “When he first said he retired, I genuinely believed that he was done,” Winfield confessed. “He surprised me when he came back.”
Conversely, another former teammate has suggested this offseason that Brady's initial retirement reversal was a mistake that played a part in the Bucs falling short of their previous performance level last season in going 8–9. Logan Ryan, who spent four years with the quarterback on the New England Patriots before being reunited again a year ago, believes off-field issues were affecting Brady.
"I think just knowing how he was interacting with his family, his kids, in terms of really wanting to spend time with his kids and be there with his kids, that was a little different, Ryan said during an appearance on FS1's Colin Cowherd Show.
"Because his kids were older. I think the stuff that was going on off the field and on the field I think was weighing on him a little bit, as obviously, we’re all humans. So I knew that there was going to be some type of break after the season."
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