Tom Brady appears to rule out retirement: ‘I still have more to prove’

Four days after the New England Patriots were eliminated from the playoffs, Tom Brady seems to have answered the question of whether he’d consider retirement this offseason.

The 42-year-old quarterback wrote a long Instagram post thanking Patriots fans for their support this season, which concluded with Brady saying he still has “more to prove,” implying that he’ll return to the NFL in 2020.

“In both life and football, failure is inevitable,” Brady wrote. “You dont always win. You can, however, learn from that failure, pick yourself up with great enthusiasm, and place yourself in the arena again.

“And that’s right where you will find me. Because I know I still have more to prove.”

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I just wanted to say to all of our fans, THANK YOU! After a few days of reflection, I am so grateful and humbled by the unconditional support you have shown me the past two decades. Running out of that tunnel every week is a feeling that is hard to explain. I wish every season ended in a win, but that’s not the nature of sports (or life). Nobody plays to lose. But the reward for working hard is just that, the work!! I have been blessed to find a career I love, teammates who go to battle with me, an organization that believes in me, and fans who have been behind us every step of the way. Every one of us that works at Gillette Stadium strived to do their best, spent themselves at a worthy cause, and prepared to fail while daring greatly (h/t Teddy Roosevelt). And for that, we’ve been rewarded with something that the scoreboard won’t show - the satisfaction of knowing we gave everything to each other in pursuit of a common goal. That is what TEAM is all about. In both life and football, failure is inevitable. You dont always win. You can, however, learn from that failure, pick yourself up with great enthusiasm, and place yourself in the arena again. And that’s right where you will find me. Because I know I still have more to prove.

A post shared by Tom Brady (@tombrady) on Jan 8, 2020 at 5:50am PST

As a future Hall of Famer and six-time Super Bowl champion, it’s unclear what else Brady feels he has to prove, but there’s no guarantee he’ll do so in New England. Brady is a free agent for the first time in his career, and at his season-ending news conference, coach Bill Belichick wouldn’t answer questions pertaining to Brady’s future.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft has spelled out that he doesn’t want to see Brady put on a different uniform.

“And you know, my hope and prayer is number one, he play for the Patriots. Or number two, he retires,” Kraft told NBC Sports’ Peter King last weekend.

The Patriots’ quest to defend their Super Bowl title ended prematurely with a 20-13 Wild Card round loss to the Tennessee Titans. It was the first time New England didn’t have a first-round bye and had to play on Wild Card Weekend since 2009.

Brady will turn 43 next season. Some of his peers are facing similar questions this spring: New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees will turn 41 this month and had his contract expire. New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who’s 39, said he doesn’t want to return to be a back-up to Daniel Jones, and Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, 38, is also a free agent.