Everything Tom Brady has said publicly about his future since the season ended
"Nobody knows anything."
What will Tom Brady decide?
This is the question everyone, from Patriots fans to NFL experts, is wondering as the quarterback approaches free agency. Some are pleading for him to stay in New England, others believe there is still uncertainty between him and the Patriots, and experts claim that his desire to have control over a roster is luring him to move on and join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the San Francisco 49ers.
Still, no matter what insiders are speculating, no one can get inside Brady’s head at this exact moment.
We can, however, take a look back at everything he’s said – emojis included – since the season ended:
January 4: Tom Brady said it was “unlikely” that he would retire but was unsure what the “future looks like” with the Patriots
After the Patriots’ season-ending loss to the Titans, Brady reacted to questions regarding his time with the Patriots and the possibility that he’ll return to New England, leave, or retire:
“I love the Patriots. I mean, they obviously – this is the greatest organization, and playing for Mr. [Robert] Kraft all these years and for coach [Bill] Belichick – there’s nobody that’s had a better career, I would say, than me, just being with them. So, I’m very blessed and I don’t know what the future looks like and I’m not going to predict it. So, I wish we would have won tonight and wish we would have done a lot of things better over the course of the season, but we just didn’t get the job done.
“I don’t want to get too much into the future and stuff. I mean, this team has fought hard. We battled every day, we tried to get better, we worked hard to improve and I was proud to be a part of this team. Not only this year, but every year. Again, I just don’t know what’s going to happen and I’m not going to predict it. No one needs to make choices at this point. I love playing football, I love playing for this team. I’ve loved playing for this team for two decades and winning a lot of games. And again, I don’t know what it looks like moving forward, so we’ll just take it day-by-day.”
“I would say it’s pretty unlikely,” he said when asked about retirement. “But – yeah, hopefully unlikely.”
January 8: He hints at returning to the NFL because he has “something to prove”
In an Instagram post, Brady reflected on the 2019 season, thanked his fans for all of their support throughout his career and admitted that he still wanted to “prove” something on the field.
“In both life and football, failure is inevitable,” he wrote in his caption. “You don’t always win. You can, however, learn from that failure, pick yourself up with great enthusiasm, and place yourself in the arena again. And that’s right where you will find me. Because I know I still have more to prove.”
January 19: Tom Brady said that he’s still interested in playing
While appearing on Westwood One, Brady definitively stated that he still wanted to compete in 2020.
“I’m open-minded about the process,” he said. “At the same time, I love playing football and I want to continue to play and do a great job. So I’m looking forward to what’s ahead. Whatever the future may bring, I’ll embrace it with open arms.”
February 2: The Hulu Super Bowl Commercial
Tom Brady spooked everyone about the “announcement” he planned on making for his Hulu commercial aired during the Super Bowl LIV. The video showed Brady walking into an empty football area and dramatically admitting that he has something important to announce, in a format that mocked a retirement-speech.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8FY7VKBcHN/
“They say all good things must come to an end,” Brady said in what would be revealed as a script Hulu gave him. “That the best just know when to walk away. So to my teammates, my family, and most of all my friends. You deserve to hear this from me.”
Brady would go on to promotionally advertise Hulu’s streaming services – which gave no indication on what Brady would decide. That is, until the end of the commercial.
“It’s time to say goodbye to TV as you know it,” he said. “But me, I’m not going anywhere.”
February 5: Tom Brady responds to a fan’s question about if he’s coming back
When Tom Brady allowed fans to ask him questions on his Instagram stories, he had an interesting reaction to one of them: “What team [are you] playing for next year?”
While Brady did not directly answer the question, he did scrunch up his face and shake his head.
Tom Brady’s reaction from his Instagram story.
February 18: Ben Affleck said Tom Brady texted him and Matt Damon a 🤷 emoji on what his decision is
While emojis are open-ended, they do give a hint at what people could be feeling.
Actor Ben Affleck said while appearing on ESPN’s “The Get Up” that he and fellow Boston-native Matt Damon texted Tom Brady in their group chat and asked him what his plans were:
“Me and Matt texted him, and said, ‘What’s the deal? You going or you staying?’ And this is what we got back: an emoji,” Affleck said, doing an impression of the shrug emoji.
March 6: Tom Brady interacts with Antonio Brown on social media
There is speculation regarding Brady’s interactions with Antonio Brown on social media and linking it to the possibility that he’ll rejoin forces with him. NBC Sports’ Boston’s Tom Curran believes that Brady could be interested in heading to Tamba Bay – and if Antonio Brown — who he has a “soft spot” for — is on that team as well, the Buccaneers could be strong championship contenders. Brady recently retweeted Brown’s message on social media about his behavior as of late, posting a heart-emoji in his retweet.
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) March 6, 2020
March 8: Charlie Weis said Tom Brady texted him, saying “nobody knows anything”
Former Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis revealed on Sirius XM NFL’s “The Opening Drive” radio program that in a text exchange he had with Brady, the Patriots quarterback said no one is in the loop about his decision.
“I do have one bit of scoop for us,” Weis said. “I’ve been texting with Tommy. I don’t [usually] pass along these conversations, but one thing he told me: ‘Nobody knows anything. So anyone who is telling you they know, they don’t know.’ I’m not going through any other part of the conversation [but] I followed up and he said, ‘Clean it up.’ So I’m cleaning it up.
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