Tom Brady’s retirement leaves a ‘gentleman gap’ in the NFL

Sorry, Tom Brady, but on behalf of football fans everywhere, I hereby reject your retirement announcement.

Brady just means too much to all of NFL fandom — those who love him and those who are happiest when he’s beaten. We all want him to stay.

When Brady was a rookie, he was carrying a pizza box into the Patriots’ practice facility when he ran into the owner, Bob Kraft in a stairwell. Brady being Brady, he introduced himself, to which Kraft responded, “I know who you are.”

To which Brady confidently responded, “I’m the best decision you ever made.”

Being a Brady fan is the best decision I ever made as a sports fan. In a world of tarnished idols, of gossip, and shamelessness, Brady stands out as a true role model. Not just because he won more Super Bowls and set more records than any other NFL athlete. Instead, it’s because he does things the right way.

TOM BRADY ANNOUNCES HE’S ‘RETIRING FOR GOOD’

Don’t come around with those tired lies about Deflategate. Ever wonder why NFL quarterbacks never said boo about the so-called scandal, in which Brady allegedly ordered footballs primed to a certain level of inflation? It’s because every NFL quarterback did, and probably does, the exact the same thing. Brady’s real crime was simply winning too often and leaving too many opponents, and their fan bases, mired in disappointment.

One of Bill Belichick’s best maxims is “Never mistake experience for preparation.” Brady went out year after year and kept himself at the highest level of preparedness, conditioning, and mental and physical agility. He hasn’t missed a start since 2008, and he hadn’t missed a game due to injury prior to that since taking over from Drew Bledsoe in 2001. Has anyone else out there missed zero days of work in the last 15 years? Yeah, I thought not.

Brady continually introduced himself to new teammates, as if they had no idea who he was. Humility is a lost art in today’s chest-pounding, follow-me-on-Snapchat world. Today, you can’t hide bad behavior from the media, paparazzi, or just knuckleheads with cellphones. The next time Brady will be in the tabloids for bad behavior will also be the first time.

We will likely never again see the stability generated in any sport with the same player, coach or manager, and owner together for two decades. Brady continually took less money and stayed in New England so that in the parity-driven NFL he could have better players around him. He tolerated Belichick’s boot camp for 20 years and became the most dominant quarterback in NFL history. Maybe that’s why he’s got seven rings and that guy in Green Bay has exactly one, even though Aaron Rodgers’ projected 2023 salary is roughly double what Brady would have made.

We don’t get Brady sightings in nightclubs, gentlemen’s clubs, or anywhere else we wouldn’t our own kids to find us. During and after his divorce, we never heard him make one negative remark about his ex-wife. Nor did we see him with one or more new female friends (although that’s certainly his prerogative). We did see his ex-wife photographed with her martial arts instructor — her martial arts instructor! — on a date of some sort just weeks after the ink on the divorce papers went dry. If Tom had an opinion, he graciously kept it to himself.

Anyone who has met Brady knows he’s a gentleman, especially around kids. That was my experience at a grip-and-grin with Brady and my two sons, then 15. The best way to describe Brady is “well-raised.” This is not a given with top athletes these days in any sport.

Here’s the pity of it – not one but two teams offered great opportunities for Tom to come back and play ball. He could have been reunited with Josh McDaniel in Las Vegas, along with a bunch of guys who can catch passes. Or he could have gone to his beloved 49ers, who broke his heart by not drafting him back in the day, while Brock Purdy and Trey Lance heal from injuries. Either team would have backed up the Brink’s truck and given him a two-year deal.

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For all these reasons, on behalf of those who, like me, adore Tom Brady and those who love to see him to lose (because of their own twisted psychological makeup), I hereby reject Brady’s retirement. He un-retired once. Who’s to say he won’t wake up in a few weeks, realize that he made a terrible mistake, and sign up with the Raiders, the 49ers, or even the Titans?

And when he does, remember that you read it here first. Pencils have erasers. And we can always add the prefix “un-” to his retirement statement.

From the Tuck Rule pass to his seventh ring, there’s never been a winner, on the field or off, like Tom Brady. And that’s why fans like me will refuse to accept the idea that Elvis – er, Tom – has left the building.

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