Tom Brady Addresses Retirement Rumors After Bucs Lose to Rams & Antonio Brown Trolls Team
AB trolled the Bucs with a savage Instagram diss after their heartbreaking Divisional Round loss to the Rams.
![Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tom Brady](https://www.maxim.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/tampa-bay-buccaneers-tom-brady-1024x683.jpg)
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were beaten by the Los Angeles Rams in a thrilling Divisional Round game on Sunday–crushing Bucs fans’ dreams of repeating their Super Bowl victory and raising questions about whether GOAT QB Tom Brady will ever play in the NFL again.
Leading up to the playoff clash with the Rams, rumors swirled that this could be the final NFL appearance by the 44-year-old Brady, who could elect to retire this offseason and has previously spoken of playing until he was 45 or even older.
“I haven’t put a lot of thought into it,” Brady said of his future in the immediate aftermath of Tampa Bay’s loss, per CBS Sports. “We’ll just take it day by day and see where we’re at.”
When asked if he took a moment on the field to consider the possibility that he may have played his last NFL game, Brady said: “I was just thinking about winning. That’s just kind of my mentality to go out there and try to win, give my team the best chance to win.”
Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians confirmed that he’ll be back for the 2022 season. Asked if Brady will be joining him, Arians said that decision is “totally up to Tom.”
On his SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Go!” with co-host Jim Gray, Brady later elaborated on his decision to keep playing or not. He said he continues to love playing football, but also recognizes the sacrifices his family has made for his career and how his wife, Gisele Bündchen, feels watching him get hit hard by defenders.
After the Bucs playoff loss to the Rams, Brady said he was going to take some time to figure out whether he returns or retires. Gray asked him about the process of that.
“I think the point is there’s no real rush for me to figure out what’s next,” Brady said. “I’ll know when I know. It’s the day after the season. I think for all of us we can decompress a bit. It’s been six straight months of football. Every day, consumed by day in and day out football. Now is just the time to spend some time with my family and my kids.”
Meanwhile, headline-hogging ex-Bucs receiver Antonio Brown wasted no time gloating over his former team’s heartbreaking 30-27 loss Sunday, thanks to a game-winning field goal from Matt Gay as time expired.
“I can’t” Brown wrote on his Instagram Story over an edited image of his shirtless self holding a sign reading “Bucs eliminated.”
After famously taking his shirt off at MetLife Stadium during the Bucs’ come-from-behind win over the Jets earlier this month, Brown blasted Tampa Bay, Arians and even Brady in a series of interviews, accusing the Bucs of forcing him to play through an ankle injury.
Looks like Brown’s untimely exit may have hurt the Super Bowl champs after all.