Tampa Bay Buccaneers veteran quarterback Tom Brady declared that he will consider playing past 45 years old. During his time with the New England Patriots, Brady repeatedly said that he would play until he’s 45 years old. But his success with the Buccaneers, whom he led to their first Super Bowl appearance since 2002, the 43-year-old Brady is now singing a different tune in terms of his retirement age. “Yeah definitely. I would definitely consider that,” Brady said via video conference on Monday, per Luke Easterling of USA Today.

Brady says he’ll know when its time to retire

Brady stressed that football is a physical sport so there’s a lot of training that goes into it and you never know when the final moment is. “I think I’ll know when it’s time,” he stressed, adding that “I don’t think I can ever go at this game half-assed.” In his first season in Tampa, Brady threw for 4,633 yards and 40 touchdowns with 12 interceptions as he helped the Buccaneers finish with an 11-5 mark, a significant improvement from their 7-9 campaign last season. Also, Brady will be playing in his 10th Super Bowl when they take on the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Earlier, two football analysts expressed a belief that he would play past 45 years old.

Jeff Darlington of ESPN, who is close with Brady, said the veteran quarterback could play out his contract with the Buccaneers and continue playing. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, for his part, said Brady might be driven to continue playing because of his love for competition.

Brady grateful to Belichick

Brady played 20 seasons with the Patriots, who selected him 199th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft.

Since he became a starter in 2001, he formed a successful partnership with head coach Bill Belichick, winning six Super Bowl trophies during that span, however, their partnership came to a halt when Brady signed a two-year deal worth $50 million with the Buccaneers amid reports that the Patriots wanted to move on from him as quarterback.

While the Patriots missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008, Brady is in the postseason and going for his 7th Super Bowl ring. Despite reports pitting him with Belichick, Brady said he’s grateful to his former head coach, thanking him for his success in the NFL. “I have a great relationship with him,” he said, per Mark Daniels of The Providence Journal. Brady said he’s grateful for Belichick and what he means to his life as a coach. “He’s everything you could ask for as a player,” he stressed, adding that he loved his time and two incredible decades in New England. The signal-caller acknowledged that he could never have accomplished the things in his career without Belichick’s support and teachings.
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