Tom Brady hints at retirement as Gisele Bündchen says she has ‘concerns’ about him playing

By Ben Morse and Matt Foster, CNN
4 minute read
Updated 11:05 AM EDT, Wed September 14, 2022
Tom Brady walks down field against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on September 11.
Tom Brady walks down field against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on September 11.
Cooper Neill/Getty Images
CNN  — 

Tom Brady remarked on his latest podcast appearance that he is “close to the end” of his NFL career as he continued to hint at his retirement.

Brady, now 45 years old, has had a tumultuous offseason, retiring in February only to later reverse that decision. In the midst of August’s training camp, Brady took an 11-day leave of absence to “deal with personal things,” according to his head coach Todd Bowles.

Last week, Brady said: “As you get older, life changes quite a bit. There’s different responsibilities that take form in your life. There’s different perspectives you gain.”

The seven-time Super Bowl champion, speaking on his regularly scheduled ‘Let’s Go!’ podcast with co-host Jim Gray on Tuesday, said that he is “feeling more than things in the past for some reason” as he competes in his 23rd NFL season.

Brady prepares to take the field for the Bucs against the Cowboys.
Brady prepares to take the field for the Bucs against the Cowboys.
Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

“I’m just really feeling intensely my emotions,” the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback told Gray. “And I feel like I always have that, but I think when you get close to the end – and I don’t know exactly where I’m at with that, but there’s no decision to be made, it’s not like I have 10 years left, I definitely don’t have that.

“All these, I’m just never going to take for granted. The only time it really slapped me in the face to say: ‘Don’t take this for granted’ was when I got injured with my knee. And after that, I came back and said: ‘Winning’s great. I love winning and I hated losing, and I still do, but even if you lose and you walk off the field healthy, there’s something to be gained from it.’ The part is, if you get injured and you can’t be there with your team, that’s really where it gets mentally challenging and emotionally challenging.”

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    Brady and the Bucs opened the new season with a comfortable 19-3 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

    Although Brady said that there is a “simplicity to life when you’re in the football season because there’s a rhythm to it,” he explained waking up on Monday morning the day after a win with bruises and cuts on his arm. “Holy s**t, there were a few hits,” he said.