What is Tom Brady’s next step?
“I’m going to go home and get as much sleep as I can tonight,” Brady said after his bid to add to his collection of Super Bowl rings was thwarted by the Dallas Cowboys 31-14 on Monday night.
Brady, 45, gave no indication that he will retire after 23 NFL seasons. He retired in early February after the previous season, only to resign 40 days later.
When asked when he’ll start thinking about his NFL future, he said, “(There) has been a lot of focus on this game, so yeah… It’s truly been one day at a time.”
One thing is certain: The loss in the NFC wild-card game, the first time Brady entered a playoff game on a team with a sub.500 record and the first time he was a home underdog in the postseason, would not be the way he wanted to go out.
“Not the way we wanted to end it,” Brady said before opening the floor to questions at his postgame press conference. “However, we didn’t deserve it.”
Brady threw 66 passes, the second-most in NFL postseason history, on a night when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (the NFL’s worst-ranked running team) had only 12 rushing attempts. For the first time as a Buccaneer, he threw an interception in the red zone, blowing a chance to tighten the game in the first half.
Brady was far from vintage, completing 35 passes for 351 yards and two late touchdowns. Several of his passes were far too short, far too wide, or far too high.
He wasn’t the same Brady we’d seen in the past. Sure, the Cowboys’ defence had a hand in it. But the Buccaneers (8-10) didn’t exactly force the issue, as Brady suffered his first career loss to the Cowboys (7-1).
“They played (well) defensively and put us under a lot of pressure, and we just couldn’t make enough plays,” Brady said. “Kind of typical of how we played all year – just inefficient in the passing game and not very good in the run game. It’s difficult to defeat such strong teams.”
Brady jogged toward the tunnel after congratulating several Cowboys players, including quarterback Dak Prescott. He removed his baseball cap and tipped it to the fans before slapping palms with a few fans near the tunnel.
As he walked away, it was easy to look for clues that could lead to the conclusion that he had played his final game. When asked if his emotions are any different now than they were at the end of previous seasons, Brady responded quickly and noncommittally.
“It just feels like the end of the season,” he admitted.
In the immediate aftermath of the loss, Bucs coach Todd Bowles was similarly unwilling to speculate on Brady’s future. Bowles stated that he expects to meet with Brady in the coming weeks for a conversation.
“Nothing needs to be said publicly right now,” Bowles added.
“You always want every year to end on a high note,” Brady explained. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way in sports. The league has 32 teams, all of which are fiercely competitive. Only one of them is going to feel great at the end of the year.”
Take it from someone who has seven Super Bowl rings…
and yet another unsatisfactory ending.
