Getty Tom Brady revealed why he's still playing to this day.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is still arguably the league’s best quarterback at the age of 44.
The 22-year veteran is considered the league’s top MVP candidate all while leading the 10-3 Buccaneers — the team with the best record in the league. Brady is accomplishing things that no one other player in NFL history has ever done.
But it’s not like we haven’t seen this before. Brady is a seven-time Super Bowl champion, five-time Super Bowl MVP, three-time league MVP and owns just about every major passing record.
So why does he still play? What does he have left to prove?
Brady Reveals What Drives Him to This Day
During a recent episode of ESPN’s “Man In The Arena,” Brady may have revealed the reason why he’s still driven even after all of his accomplishments. While discussing the New England Patriots‘ Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants at the conclusion of the 2007 season — the game in which their undefeated season was ended — Brady reveals had he won that game, he might have been fulfilled by now. Most importantly, he might have retired years ago.
“Had we won that game, I’m not a big hypothetical guy, but maybe the desire is a little bit different if you’re looking at [a] silver lining,” Brady said. “Maybe the desire to reach that point, maybe I would have been fulfilled, not to stop playing at that time, but I don’t know, maybe I play another seven or eight years and I’m fulfilled.”
“Maybe not,” Brady continued, “but there’s not much I can do about it now. Maybe that’s the lesson in life. Dealing with what happens, positive [and] negative. You can’t change it. You can learn from it and hopefully it can make you a good person and you deal with life in a positive way. And when things don’t go your way, appreciate the other people who it goes good for, and then try your hardest to get back there again.”
Brady may not have an undefeated season on his resume, but he has just about everything else. In fact, he’s been better during the second half of his career — four Super Bowl wins after turning 37 years old — than he was during the first half.
At the current moment, Brady leads the league with 4,134 yards, 378 completions and 36 touchdowns.
It’s safe to say that Brady bounced back just fine following that loss to the Giants. And while it would have been nice to see the 2007 Patriots finish as the first undefeated team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, we might not have ever seen Brady dominate the league the way he is as the oldest player in the league.
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Bucs Banged up Heading Into Week 15
The Buccaneers are a little bit banged up heading into their NFC South clash with the New Orleans Saints in Week 15.
As Tampa Bay held their first practice session of the week on Wednesday, December 15, they did so without four key players — Leonard Fournette (ankle), Richard Sherman (Achilles), Jamel Dean (concussion) and Antoine Winfield Jr. (foot).
It’s worth noting that all four players played in the Bucs’ Week 14 win over the Buffalo Bills. They’ll have two more opportunities to suit up before the Buccaneers host the Saints with a chance to clinch the division title with a victory.