Tom Brady’s long-time teammate and close friend, tight end Rob Gronkowski, believes that the quarterback will return to the NFL, but not next season. In an interview with USA Today, Gronkowski said the 44-year-old Brady will take two years off and return to the NFL. Gronkowski said age won’t be a factor as Brady can play at any age. “If he’s 50 years old he can still come back,” said Gronkowski, calling Brady a beast and can play anytime. “I think he’s going to come back but in a couple of years,” he added. Gronkowski has a point as Brady led the league in passing yards, passing touchdowns and completions in the regular season, earning him the FedEx Air Player of the Year Award.
Brady is known to be a health buff so he is expected to stay in shape during retirement and can be in football shape if he decides to return to the game. Days after announcing his retirement, Brady left open the possibility of returning to the game after saying he will “never say never” to a possible return to the NFL if given a chance.
As of now, Brady is enjoying retirement life as he is on traditional annual vacation with his family in Costa Rica. The vacation came sooner after Brady and the Buccaneers lost to the Los Angeles Rams, 30-27, in the NFC Divisional Round. For Gronkowski, he’s still undecided if he would want to play for another quarterback. Gronkowski will turn free agent and could sign with any team.
If that happens, it would be the first time in his career that Gronkowski won’t be teammates with Brady.
Brady’s final TD ball found
After catching Brady’s final touchdown pass in the NFL for now, wide receiver Mike Evans threw the ball in the stands as he was still unaware that his quarterback would announce his retirement days after their loss to the Ram.
The ball went missing until Fox Sports reported that it is headed for auction and will be sold by Leland Auctions. The ball was caught by a fan, who wants to remain anonymous. He said he and his wife were attending their first Buccaneers game when he caught the ball thrown by Evans. According to Jordan Gilroy, director of acquisitions for Lelands Auctions, when they found the photos and matched it up, he got goosebumps.
The ball will be auctioned on Super Bowl Sunday and it’s expected to fetch between $500,000 to $1 million. "Sometimes people hold on to these items, but I think he realized how important of a situation this is with the market,” Gilroy said. Evans also threw Brady’s 600th touchdown ball in the stands, but the team managed to recover it from the fan in exchange for some perks, including two season tickets for two years and a bitcoin worth around $60,000 from Brady.
