Father Time will have to keep on waiting. Tom Brady decided to put his retirement on hold to run things back with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a third consecutive season, the 23rd in his career.
Brady, 45, feels like he has unfinished business with the Bucs, whom he led to a Super Bowl triumph in 2021. But even with the star signal-caller coming back, the franchise still went through significant changes this offseason.
In addition to Todd Bowles being promoted to head coach after Bruce Arians' retirement, the Bucs' offensive line will look different this years. Many things have been said about the new OL, which is why Brady expects his teammates to use it as motivation to prove their doubters wrong.
Tom Brady requests Bucs OL to prove haters wrong
"I hope they take it to heart, all the things that people have said about them, which has not always been the most flattering things," Brady said in his Let's Go Podcast, via Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports.
"But like all of us, we have to go out there and earn it and either prove them right or prove them wrong. ... I think I've always used little different [criticisms] as motivation for me. I'm a really motivated person, but it always helps when someone says something that's not flattering.
"It's going to be a challenge. We've got Shaq Mason, who I love to death. I've played with him a long time, I know what he's all about. Robert Hainsey, he earned the respect of his teammates with his work ethic and him showing up every day last year. ... He's going to step in and try to do a good job. And we've got a left guard who is battling every day. Luke [Goedeke] has done a great job for us in training camp. We drafted him to come in here and play. We'll see if he can get in there and be prepared to do a great job."
Brady means what he's saying, he didn't come back for nothing. He looks happy to be back on the gridiron, but it's also clear that he's intrigued by the idea of spending more time off it. Therefore, we can only expect him to demand the best from his teammates.
