Tom Brady’s 23-season run as an NFL quarterback has ended. His many records and accumulation of seven rings on two different teams have proven Brady’s GOAT status.

Throughout his entire career, #12 maintained a winning mentality and work ethic which helped him achieve many playoff runs and Super Bowl championships. Brady’s early New England Patriot days showed his efficiency and ability to accomplish any feat and repeat it over and over again despite his youth. From 2002-2005, Brady won four championships with the Patriots which made teams in the league fear the matchup against the New England crew. However, this early career run was halted in 2008 when Brady ended up tearing his ACL. He did not win another championship until 2015 against the Seattle Seahawks. This win joined Brady with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as the only other quarterbacks in NFL history to win four Super Bowls. Brady was not yet finished as he went on to win two more super bowls for the Patriots in 2017 and 2019. After one last season of playing for New England in 2019 and 2020, Brady was ready for a change after missing out on the playoffs that year. In March 2020, Brady was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the goal of yet another ring for another team which he accomplished in 2021 in an embarrassing blowout against the Kansas City Chiefs. Brady finished the following season and announced his retirement from the NFL.

Brady’s legacy will stain him as the GOAT of the NFL with fans across the country mourning his departure from the game they had watched him play for the previous 22 seasons. This emotional departure went viral across social media with love from fans of each and every team as the undisputed GOAT was finally leaving his legacy behind. However, just 40 days later, Brady changed his mind in a decision that affected his personal life and eventually his professional career. Fans saw that Brady was not himself in his final season and despite having won half their games and making it to the playoffs, this was one of Brady’s weakest seasons. Brady was clearly tired and physically unwell as a result of issues in his personal life such as his divorce from Gisele Bundchen. 

Finally, on Feb. 1, 2023, the Bucs’ quarterback announced his retirement in a video that he posted on Twitter. 

“I’m retiring for good,” said Brady.

Brady’s decision is another step toward leaving behind the generation of football from the 2000s to the early 2020s. The five-time Super Bowl MVP winner’s impact on the league will never be forgotten and he will forever be remembered as the greatest to touch the NFL field.