Monday morning, SiriusXM promoted the latest episode of Tom Brady’s podcast, Let’s Go! with Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald, and Jim Gray. The show had an obvious draw with a report over the weekend by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington that the seven-time Super Bowl winner had decided to retire.
Soon after the report circulated and the news spread across sports and mainstream media, people in Brady’s camp said news of the quarterback’s retirement was premature. Brady’s agent, Don Yee, issued a statement saying his client had not yet made a decision. Then Brady’s father told NFL Network’s Mike Giardi that the report was “total conjecture.”
The ensuing speculation was that Brady probably does intend to retire but wanted to make the announcement himself, on his own platform, rather than have reporters break the news and force him to respond. So media and fans were waiting to hear from Brady himself.
On Monday’s Let’s Go!, Brady didn’t clarify whether or not he is retiring. Essentially repeating what he said on the previous week’s podcast, he said he’s still considering the decision with his family.
“Sometimes it takes some time to really evaluate how you feel,” Brady told Gray. “When the time is right, I’ll be ready to make a decision.”
Gray then asked Brady if he was surprised to see the ESPN report.
“It’s always a good line that I’m responsible for what I say and do and not responsible for what others say or do,” Brady said. “Again, I think one thing I’ve learned about sports is you control what you can control and what you can’t you leave to others.
“You know, everyone I know, 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 I’m just, literally it’s day to day with me. I’m just trying to do the best I can every day and evaluate things as they come and trying to make a great decision for me and my family.”
When Gray asked if Brady had a timeline for his decision, the quarterback was similarly evasive.
“I don’t know, I know when the time is right, so like I’ve always said I’m very blessed to play as long as I have,” said Brady. “As things have gone on in the later parts of my career, whether that was five years ago or even this year, you know, there’s a lot of interest in when I’m going to stop playing. And I understand that. It’s not that I don’t recognize that. It’s just when I know I’ll know and when I don’t know I don’t know, and I’m not going to race to some conclusion about that.”
So that’s not much different from what was speculated after Brady’s agent and father both disputed ESPN’s report. Yet Schefter and Darlington presumably heard about Brady deciding to retire from reliable sources. To put that news out there irresponsibly would damage each reporter’s reputation and open them to ridicule.
If anything is clear from the report and reaction to it, it’s that Brady wants to announce the decision on his own and prefers not to be pressured into it by news reports.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
