I think Tom is serious about playing til 45, though he did say "hopefully"

[AzPatsFan]

This thread is full of hopeful blarney... NO ONE cheats Father Tyme, No ONE!

 

[Deus Irae]

This thread is full of hopeful blarney... NO ONE cheats Father Tyme, No ONE!

Gordie Howe is laughing (albeit from beyond the grave, as Father Time always wins, eventually).

 

[Flash]

Maybe he can do it, maybe not, but he sure as hell won't be able to do it if the O-Line is still inconsistent in pass protection. Thankfully, his blindside is well protected by Solder and Thuney, but that right side of the line is shaky and I have no confidence in them.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

In 2009, coming back from his ACL surgery, Tom Brady said he felt he was at the midpoint of his career during the rehabilitation. Had that been the case, he would have retired this season. My point is that no one knows, not even Tom, how far he can go.

 

[aluminum seats]

This thread is full of hopeful blarney... NO ONE cheats Father Tyme, No ONE!

Father Thyme and Mother Rosemary

 

[aluminum seats]

This thread is full of hopeful blarney... NO ONE cheats Father Tyme, No ONE!

On a more serious note, it's not cheating Father Time...the guy's a freak, and things change! A guy like Brady will be in vanguard of shifting expectations of what athletes can accomplish. Humans are 4 inches taller on average than they were 100 years ago. Have you seen life expectancy charts? Insane how they've changed, and pretty quickly.

If he avoids a big injury, I'm honestly starting to think 45 is conservative for this guy. Let it ride. (Sorry Jimmy, but thanks for the picks!)

 

[StockingAnarchyNumber12]

And he completely fell apart the next year. I want Brady to play as long as he can but, most of the time, the heart is willing while the body is unable to keep up. Father Time is undefeated.

Father time will win in the end and its true Favre fell off the year after, but Favre still showed signs that his time was up pysically and mentally as there was talks about retirement, but Brady has neither. If anything, Brady is physically amazing at his age for a QB and mentally wants to keep going. Brady won't last forever, but if he made it to 43 it would nowhere near shock me.

 

[ALP]

I'll believe a decline when I see it

will it come? sure it will, but that's damn near unpredictable at this point I think

 

[Wheelman]

Of course he's serious. You really thought he was joking?

 

[Wheelman]

If Brady is coming out at 48 playing for his 7th ring in a Superbowl I'd be absolutely stoked. Its hard to believe anybody could play remotely good at 48 though.

I wouldn't be, he should be playing for his 13th ring by then.

 

[deroc5050]

Brady never depended on speed or quickness, As long as he stays healthy his mechanics will allow him to play into his mid 40's. I really believe this.

He knows when to go down and never really holds on to the ball to long. So he usually avoids the big hits.

He also takes care of himself apparently amazingly between sleep, diet and excercise. He loves football and knows that life will never be the same after his playing career is over.

 

[patman52]

Past issues with QBs playing a long time have been greatly reduced. QBs don't get hit as often or as hard as they used to. Medical advances in shoulder surgery continue.
Getting rid of the ball in under 3 seconds. Farve lasted as long as he did playing the way he did is more impressive than Brady getting rid of the ball in 3 seconds at age 44. Never mind brady's maniacal devotion to his body.

 

[Gronk]

I'll believe a decline when I see it

My thoughts exactly. I'm not much for the word or concept of "deserve", whether in sports or life in general, so to change the semantics a bit, if anybody'd ever earned the right to play until it was obvious he couldn't, it's Tom Brady. Michael Jordan might have 7 or 8 rings if the Bulls didn't rush into shoving the whole dynasty out the back door to make way for the next generation (and...y'know, if he hadn't gotten secretly suspended for gambling a literal 8-peat might have been possible). In any case, it woulda been cool to see the older Bulls squad play the Spurs in '99 or Lakers in '00 (win or lose) instead of just fading away into the ether. I would rather watch the Patriots and 44-year-old Tom Brady lose the Super Bowl to the JG-led Bears than I would see the Patriots let Tom go before his time.

This should be instructive to the Patriots, and week-to-week, game-to-game as their micro approach may be, Kraft and Bill are men old enough and macro enough to think about legacy - Tom is too, for that matter. Play for the present - when you believe Tom Brady isn't your best option this year to win the Super Bowl, then come talk to me. Has anyone seen anything besides Tom Brady's birth date, and the career history of far less physically fit and devoted QBs, to suggest that time is coming soon? Call me a ****ty TB-first Patriots fan if you want, but YES, I'd rather have a few more shots at the SB for TB than I would for a hypothetically (and that's all it is) slightly longer future with JG.

Anyone watching Tom for his whole career should realize that we are all witnesses to one of the all-time great team athletes in the history of modern-day sports. The number of people willing to walk away from that for what they've seen in 6 quarters of football is either remarkable, idiotic, genius, unhinged, or baffling. But I digress...yeah I believe Tom can play until he's 45. 50...he'd be pushing it.

 

[RecoveringCowboy]

He said he's going to play until he sucks.

He's doing everything possible to push that day back, whenever that it.

Goodell might have unwittenly given Brady an extra year - who knows?

 

[TB_Helmet]

I think Pink Head's downfall was all those Papa John's commercials. Think about how much pizza he ate during those shots. It must have wreaked havoc on his body and his intestinal tract. Also he had to spend all that time with Papa John himself which was probably taxing on the soul. Compare that to Brady, who as someone said earlier, hasn't had a slice of pizza in years.

Who would have thought it -- in the end, Pink Head's greatest strength (being funny in commercials) was also what did him in. RIP.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Poor Jimmy....Garoppolo doesn't stand a chance lol

 

[BradyFTW!]

I'm sure he wants and intends to. He wouldn't have said it if he didn't. But that's way too far into the future for the team to be looking, and even as a fan I'm not going to look that far ahead. All I know is he hasn't shown any signs of decline yet, and I'm not going to spend too much time thinking about life after Brady until his performance gives me a reason to.