Tom Brady brought the NFL world to a standstill when he decided to call time on his illustrious career, only to then reverse his decision a few weeks later. Now he’s very much back in the swing of things and is mentally and physically preparing himself for the new season.
The return of Brady to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is sure to improve their NFL game odds, and proof of that comes in the form of the NFL futures market, where the Jason Licht’s team are now up among the front-runner when during the quarterback’s retirement they had fallen quite a way down the pecking order.
The 44-year-old is in high spirits and seems keen to get back into shape, and with that in mind, the seven-time Super Bowl winner decided to take a bike ride through New York City, filming it as he did so, before posting the results to his social media channels.
Brady has more than a few reasons to be cheerful. Last season he posted his best-ever numbers and looks keen on adding an eighth Super Bowl ring this season. When he does finally retire for good, he’s already lined up his next position.
Fox Sports have splashed out an astonishing $375 million to make Brady their lead NFL analyst though it’s clearly hard to say when he might take up the post.
Brady’s decision to renege on his retirement plans may well be down to his desire to go out with a bang and not a whimper.
Despite his best efforts, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers failed to go long into the playoffs, and there was also speculation that the NFL legend’s decision to come back to the game may have been down to the fact that the Bucs let head coach Bruce Arians go, before replacing him with Licht, who had worked with Brady at the Patriots previously.
Brady made an immediate impact at the Raymond James Stadium, helping the team to a Super Bowl win in his first season, the first for the franchise in almost two decades and only their second title ever.
Last season he was unable to repeat the feat, but his heroics did lead Tampa Bay to a franchise-high 13 regular-season wins before seeing off the Philadelphia Eagles in the wildcard playoffs.
They then fell, surprisingly, to a closely fought loss to eventual Super Bowl champions Los Angeles Rams in the divisional playoffs, after which Brady made his initial decision to quit the game.
The Buccaneers will have to fight offseason favorites Buffalo Bills, as well as the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs, who are all among the leaders in the betting for the 2022 season.
The season on the horizon will be Brady’s 23rd in the NFL, but there’s no sign of any lack of motivation, and everyone knows just how seriously he takes his fitness, and as such, you can expect him to make a real impact in 2022.