Tom Brady to retire after storied, 22-season NFL career: report

• Tom Brady is reportedly retiring from professional football, per reports from NFL insiders.
• Following the reports, Brady's agent said legendary NFL quarterback "will be the only person to express his plans with complete accuracy."
• The New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers star has won seven Super Bowls over 22 illustrious seasons.

The greatest of all time might have played his final game.

Tom Brady is set to retire after 22 illustrious seasons in the National Football League, according to ESPN's NFL insiders. The seven-time Super Bowl champion and three-time league MVP will go down in history as perhaps the greatest quarterback in the history of professional football.

However, Brady's agent Don Yee shared a statement to NFL insider Adam Schefter, saying that Brady "will be the only person to express his plans with complete accuracy."

NFL reporter Michael Silver reported that Brady told Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht that he hasn't yet made a final decision on retirement.

Additionally, Brady's TB12 brand deleted a tweet announcing his retirement following ESPN's report.

Brady — who won five Super Bowl MVPs over his storied career — has the NFL QB records for completions, passing yards, touchdown passes, and games started. He also holds the record for most selections to the Pro Bowl with 15 over his 22 seasons.

Brady, now 44 years old, spent 20 seasons with the New England Patriots, and helped make the franchise a perennial powerhouse in the AFC East. He won six Super Bowls while playing for Robert Kraft's team.

In 2020, Brady took his talents to Tampa Bay in a blockbuster free agency move. Just a year later, the Michigan Wolverines alum brought the Buccaneers their first Super Bowl win in nearly two decades.

For years, Brady had said he was targeting playing until he's 45, a number that once seemed laughable until he continued to play at an elite level into his late 30s and early 40s.

In the 2021 season, at age 44, Brady led the NFL in passing yards, throwing for a career-high 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns.

Brady has famously structured his life to continue playing football at an age when others retire. Brady has promoted his training habits, from his famously strict diet, his belief in stretching and "pliability," to his brain exercises. Brady dubbed his method the "TB12 Method," creating a business out of it, selling a book, diet supplements, and workout equipment, and opening a gym in Massachusetts.

However, after a loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round of the playoffs, Brady began speaking more openly about retirement.

On his "Let's Go" podcast, Brady said the decision was about more than his own desire to keep playing football.

"As I've gotten older, I think the best part is, football is extremely important to my life. It means a lot to me. I care a lot about what we're trying to accomplish as a team, and I care a lot about my teammates," Brady said.

"The biggest difference now that I'm older is I have kids now too. And I care about them a lot as well. They've been my biggest supporters. My wife has been my biggest supporter. It pains her to see me get hit out there, and she deserves what she needs from me as a husband, and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad.

"I'm going to spend some time with them and give them what they need because they've really been giving me what I need the last six months to do what I love to do."

According to ESPN, Buccaneers coaches and executives have been bracing for Brady's retirement in recent weeks, while some believes Brady knew last Sunday's game would be his last.