After 22 incredible seasons in the NFL, Tom Brady is unfortunately moving on from the game. However, some fans are questioning the controversial wording of his retirement announcement.
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Tom Brady is, no doubt, the greatest player to ever grace the NFL. His seven Super Bowl wins — which eclipse any team’s total — and his countless records are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the influence he has had on the game of football.
For an entire generation, Tom Brady’s image is synonymous with the NFL’s. One simply cannot exist without the other. Fans born roughly from the mid ’90s onwards literally have never experienced, or hold meaning memories of, an NFL without Tom Brady in it.
Sadly, that ride has come to an end today. Following a couple of days of speculation, which included a seemingly official announcement from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that was later disputed by Brady’s camp, it is now for certain.
Tom Brady took to Instagram earlier today, writing out a lengthy note which officially confirmed his retirement. In the post, he thanked various members of the Bucs organization but surprisingly didn’t mention the Patriots at all, which many fans found odd considering that Brady spent 20 seasons with the team.
NFL Twitter calls out Tom Brady for snubbing the Patriots, when even Peyton Manning thanked them
After the announcement, the New England Patriots’ Twitter handle promptly posted an illustration of Brady in a Pats uniform riding off into the sunset with the six Lombardi trophies he won during his time in Foxboro as a tribute to him.
However, some Patriots fans were understandably upset that Brady didn’t mention them at all during his lengthy retirement message. He spent a full two decades with the team, and while his exit was obviously not an ideal situation, the fans had nothing to do with that.
In response to the Pats’ Twitter post, one user even responded by bringing up Peyton Manning’s retirement. The former Colts and Broncos legend, who for many years was a direct AFC rival to the Patriots, admitted that he would miss the playing in front of the Patriots fans.
Of course, if the debacle of the whole “false start announcement” on the weekend taught us anything, it is to avoid being reactionary. This is something that sports fans are often guilty of and it’s only been a few hours since Brady’s post.
It is definitely possible that he is simply being respectful to the Buccaneers, whom he is still under contract with, and will dedicate a separate post to the Pats organization and their fans sometime soon.
Edit: soon after the publishing of this article, Brady indeed posted an Instagram story showing Robert Kraft’s statement and a caption which read, “Thank you Patriots and Patriots nation. Beyond grateful and love you all.”
