2027 NFL: How long does Brady play?

How long will the GOAT roam?


  • Total voters
    132
  • Poll closed .

Traut

lost his degree
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Jul 20, 2005
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Tom Brady is 43 years old. He has said he wants to play at 45. His birthday is August 3rd.

To do this he has to play 2 more years.

I take Tom Brady at his word. And I would never bet against him.
 

Boston Brawler

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Jan 17, 2011
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Tom Brady is 43 years old. He has said he wants to play at 45. His birthday is August 3rd.

To do this he has to play 2 more years.

I take Tom Brady at his word. And I would never bet against him.
Ditto.

If they keep him protected and provide him weapons, he'll make good on that promise.
 

rodderick

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Apr 24, 2009
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I think there's no way he retires after this season, he's too close to the yardage record and that would mean he'd own every relevant volume passing stat in the regular season and postseason. I don't think he'd come back just to get that number if he sucked, but he's still able to play at a high level so there's no reason to not go for that as well. After next season I'd be surprised if he were still playing. He'd start 2022 as a 45 year old and in need of a new contract. As long as he goes out playing reasonably well he can always say "I could have gone 3 more years but I accomplished everything and wanted time for my family".
 

Shaky Walton

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Nov 20, 2019
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I'm not trying to equate the two but Boston sports fans have seen two age defying freaks in the same era. Zdeno Chara logging the ice time he did the last few years was insane. And with the plus/minus he put up last year, he was still performing at a reasonably high level (despite what Don Sweeney might have thought). Again, he's not Brady but it's remarkable that we had two father time marvels at the same time.
 

reggiecleveland

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I'm not trying to equate the two but Boston sports fans have seen two age defying freaks in the same era. Zdeno Chara logging the ice time he did the last few years was insane. And with the plus/minus he put up last year, he was still performing at a reasonably high level (despite what Don Sweeney might have thought). Again, he's not Brady but it's remarkable that we had two father time marvels at the same time.
It is also the nature of sports though. Guys look after themselves and play later. Both Chara and Brady have benefitted from rule changes that left earlier athletes beaten up. As Bill James once wrote about Babe Ruth. Everything he did is was done by somebody else soon afterward, it i just it takes three or four players to do all the things he did.
 
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Ralphwiggum

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Jun 27, 2012
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I think two more years is the most likely scenario, so done at 45 which is what he has always said. But I voted "other" because I think if he can still play at a high level after that he'll keep going.
 

Bread of Yaz

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Mar 12, 2019
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It is also the nature of sports though. Guys look after themselves and play later. Both Chara and Brady have benefitted from rule changes that left earlier athletes beaten up. As Bill James once wrote about Babe Ruth. Everything he did is was done by somebody lese soon afterward, it i just it takes three or four players to do all the things he did.
Athletes' salaries have exploded in the last 50 years - allowing them to build home gyms, hire personal chefs, work out year round, travel on private jets, and have most of their day to day needs taken care of. Hell, in the 60s many pro athletes had to work second jobs in the offseason just to make ends meet.
 

OurF'ingCity

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Apr 22, 2016
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I think two more years is the most likely scenario, so done at 45 which is what he has always said. But I voted "other" because I think if he can still play at a high level after that he'll keep going.
Same except I am a bit more bullish on him playing beyond 2022. I'd say it's 50/50 in my mind. I think he is going to play beyond 2022 unless one of the following occurs (all of which are decently likely): 1. He suffers a significant injury or his play just falls off so much that he's a net negative to the team. 2. Tampa tells him after 2022 that they have no interest in resigning him. I don't think he would want to go through another team change in two years just to play another year or two somewhere else. But #2 is pretty unlikely unless #1 has happened anyway. 3. He wins the Super Bowl this year and then either wins it again next year as well, or at least goes far in the playoffs. In that scenario (when we are talking 7 or 8 rings) I can see him thinking that there is just no reason to keep playing as he has nothing more to prove.

Here's a specific prediction - after 2022, he signs a one-year extension with Tampa, plays okay but not great, and Tampa goes like 9-7 or something and barely misses the playoffs and then he announces his retirement.
 

PseuFighter

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Dec 22, 2003
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I think he makes it to 45. Agree that it's foolish to bet against him. It's what he said he was going to do, and as long as there's no injury preventing it, he's going to do it.
 

streeter88

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Apr 2, 2006
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Youngest kids are 8 and 10 now. Need to be retired before they become teenagers. Why I think his last season is the age 45 one.

At something near current production rates, he would be close to 90K yds, 680+ TDs. Rings the thing to watch though.
 

streeter88

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Apr 2, 2006
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Teenagers want parents around even less.
It can be a bit trickier to raise teenagers - the problems can get bigger and more complex, and a second pair of hands can be useful. I’m not talking from a large sample size as I only have two daughters, but teenage daughters in my experience are not easy. And I was glad to be there, as much for the good times as for the difficult ones.
 

SoxJox

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Dec 22, 2003
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Like others have said...I take him at his word. 45.

He's already the oldest QB to have started in the NFL, squeaking past George Blanda, who played his last game as QB at 43 years and 98 days (Brady will play SB at 43 years and 188 days). But George continued on 5 more years - to age 48 - as a kicker. Hell, he kicked a 41-yard FG in his last game.

I appreciate that this is about Brady, but a very funny anecdote from Blanda's Wiki page.

The 1970s TV series Happy Days was set in 1950s Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the Season 3 episode "Football Frolics", first aired January 20, 1976, Richie Cunningham (played by Ron Howard) and Ralph Malph (Donny Most) are watching the December 9, 1956, Chicago Bears – Chicago Cardinals televised game. After Ed Brown's pass to Harlon Hill is intercepted by the Cardinals, Richie wants "the other quarterback" put in. Ralph says that the other quarterback is "washed up. He's old. He's 30. He's got no future." Richie argues back, "George Blanda has two or three good years left." The joke was that Blanda, 19 years after the date depicted in the show, was still playing.[23]
I wonder if Tommy's legacy will include such a reference in some TV show yet to be produced.
 
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nighthob

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Jul 15, 2005
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My older self just stepped through a time portal to tell me to bet the house on Brady leading the 49ers to victory in 2030 Super Bowl and winning his 12th ring. This may have been a covid19 induced fever dream, but I’m done betting against Brady.
 

wiffleballhero

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The Pats suck again next year and at some point in the middle of 2021 Bruce Arians does something so incredibly stupid that Brady says, "enough of this" and signs a 2 year contract back with the Pats to close it out. 2023 is the last season. Pats win the SB on a pass to David Patten's kid.
 

Phil Plantier

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Mar 7, 2002
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I think he plays until 2024. He has a good season in 2022, gets injured in 2023, and tries to make a comeback in 2024, but is (finally) underwhelming.