Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady really could “be like Mike” and make a comeback, NFL analyst and former quarterback Tony Romo said on Jan. 28.
Rumors of Brady’s retirement erupted amid the Bucs’ season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Jan. 23. It boiled to the point of media outlets such as ESPN calling it imminent.
Romo, who played quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys from 2003 to 2016, believes Brady could pull a comeback like NBA legend Michael Jordan did in basketball. Jordan did it twice actually, and the first of those resulted in three more championships.
“I think sneakily, there’s a chance that Tom Brady retires and may, I’m just saying, could comes back in two years,” Romo said on “CBS Mornings” via Sports Illustrated. “This is just crazy but he’s like a bionic man. If he is right, well he’s not hurt, he’s still playing great. He may need to refresh like Jordan, and go two years away, and maybe start another challenge. Because otherwise he has nothing else to prove.”
Brady looked like a top MVP candidate in 2021 as he led the league in passing yards with 5,316 and touchdowns with 43. His achievements eclipse all quarterbacks in NFL history, but there hasn’t ever been a quarterback who came out of retirement and won a Super Bowl.
Brady’s Chance at Story Book Ending?
Speaking with the NBC broadcast team, Brady said on Jan. 22 that a Super Bowl is his dream ending.
“I’d love to end on a Super Bowl. … but I think I’ll know when I know, but there’s a lot that’s inconclusive,” Brady told NBC Sports.
Tom Brady on retirement.
Romo acknowledged on “CBS Mornings” that Brady’s retirement, if now, is “not going to be this fairy tale ending.” The analyst also concluded that Brady’s insatiable desire to win would keep him going instead of motivating to retire.
“I think when he wins it, I think he’s opposite of what some people think,” Romo added. “I think that’s when he goes away, when he loses. Just because it’s actually like, ‘Okay, when I win it I want to see if I can be the first one to win three in a row.’ There’s always another thing. Once you don’t have that ability, which I think is getting close here, I think this is how he walks away.”
No ‘Last Dance’ Like Mike
Brady ideally wants to end his career with a Super Bowl, but he doesn’t want to end with an official “Last Dance” like Jordan.
Numerous big-time athletes and coaches have done farewell tour things over the years. Former New York Yankees great Derek Jeter, who rented his Tampa mansion to Brady in 2020, received many ovations in MLB stadiums in 2014 .
“I think that would be distracting for me,” Brady said on his podcast, “Let’s Go!” on Jan. 24. “My enjoyment comes from not a recognition of kind of what I’ve accomplished as a player in the league. My enjoyment comes from the competition.”
“I was thinking about, this whole year, about competing. I wasn’t thinking about anything other than that. So when the time comes to think about post career and second career I’ll think about those things,” Brady added. “It’s just when you’re 44, I guess you get asked about that a lot. And a lot of people thought I was done playing football in 2015. A lot of people in 2016 said, ‘You’re done.’ A lot of people in 2018, and when I left the Patriots, they said, ‘You’re done.'”
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Ex-NFL Star Makes Wild Tom Brady Retirement Prediction