Tom Brady breaks silence on retirement reports

Tom Brady said Monday he is "still going through the process I said I was going through" amid reports he was going to retire from the NFL.

Brady made it clear on the "Let’s Go!" podcast he is still weighing whether he was going to walk away from the NFL despite ESPN and the NFL Network reporting he is retiring after 22 seasons and seven Super Bowl titles between playing with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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"It was still a good week for me. I’m still going through the process I said I was going through. Sometimes it takes some time to really evaluate how you feel, what you want to do. I think when the time is right, I’ll be ready to make a decision one way or another like I said last week," he told legendary sportscaster Jim Gray in the podcast interview.

Brady was asked whether he was surprised when the reports came out.

"There’s always a good line that I’m responsible for what I say and do and not responsible for what others say and do. Again, one thing I learned about sports is you can control what you can control, and what you can’t, you leave to others," he said. "We’re in such an era (of) information, and people want to be in front of the news often, and I totally understand that and understand that’s the environment we’re in. But I think for me, it’s just literally day-to-day with me. I’m just trying to do the best I can every day and evaluate things as they come and try to make a great decision for me and my family."

Brady lamented that the reports were overshadowing championship weekend.

"I don’t know what different intentions are, and you know it’s not for me to control those things. There’s some very important games going on over the weekend, and I know how hard those players work on Sunday to prepare for that."

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"I was actually a little bit disappointed that would actually play some part of what’s going on in NFL football, which to me is such an amazing sport. It’s a great sport, and the focus should be on those great games. You’re right, for me, I was trying to enjoy a nice weekend. It didn’t quite turn that way because my phone got really busy, but that’s just part of being in the situation I’m in."

Brady didn’t say whether he had a timeline on making a decision — just that he’d know when the time is "right."

"Like I’ve always said, I’m very blessed to play as long as I have. As things have gone on in the later parts of my career, whether that was five years ago or even this year, there’s a lot of interest in when I’m gonna stop playing, and I understand that. It’s not that I don’t recognize that. When I know, I’ll know, and when I don’t know, I don’t know. I’m not going to race to some conclusion about that.

Brady was asked whether the reports and the circus that followed would give him a reason to come back one more season to just show he is still at the top of his games.

"I think my motivation for playing football is to win and be successful, and maybe there’s little parts of motivation that come from places or what people may say or think. I’m mostly motivated from inside and wanting to be the best for my teammates and my coaches and my organization. It’s kind of where my motivation has been for a long time," he said.

"At different times you use different techniques and tools to put yourself in the right frame of mind, but for me, it’s just always being the best I could be, and that’s always how I wanted to be for my teammates."

The Brady rumors started to ramp up when ESPN reported, citing sources, that he was going to retire. NFL Network also reported it.

Minutes after the report came out, TB12 Sports tweeted goodbye to its founder but later deleted the tweet. Some Buccaneers players who had tweeted their tribute messages later deleted them.

Tom Brady Sr. told KRON-TV the reports of his son’s retirement were untrue.

"This story, Mike, is total conjecture," Brady Sr. told NFL Network. "Tommy has not made a final decision one way or the other, and anybody else that says that he has is absolutely wrong."

And Brady’s agent, Don Yee, told ESPN the quarterback would make the final announcement.

"I understand the advance speculation about Tom’s future. Without getting into the accuracy or inaccuracy of what’s being reported, Tom will be the only person to express his plans with complete accuracy," Yee said in the statement. "He knows the realities of the football business and planning calendar as well as anybody, so that should be soon."

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It appears Brady still has a lot of decide upon in the coming weeks.