Brady Officially Retires -- Makes Statement on Social Media

Brady Officially Retires -- Makes Statement on Social Media

Former New England Patriot Tom Brady and reigning Super Bowl champion with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tom Brady is officially retiring.

After reports were made this past week that his departure from the game was imminent -- as well as counter-reports that the intel was wrong -- the prognosticators proved true.

On Tuesday, Brady took to Instagram to announce his decision -- and how he came to it.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

Here is an excerpt from his lengthy post:

This is difficult for me to write, but here it goes: I am not going to make that competitive commitment anymore. I have loved my NFL career, and now it is time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention. 

I’ve done a lot of reflection the past week and have asked myself the difficult questions. My teammates, coaches, fellow competitors and fans deserve 100% of me, but right now, it’s best I leave the field of play to the next generation of dedicated and committed athletes. 

Brady spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots, where he was a central contributor to the franchise's dynasty from 2001 to 2019, and spent his last two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2020 to 2021.

He is widely regarded as the greatest quarterback of all time.