Tom Brady is 48 years old, and he hasn’t played in an NFL game since January of 2023, but he’s confident that he could still step out onto the field and dominate – following a brief ramp-up period.
"I'd whoop ass right now,” Brady said during a recent appearance on the Big Podcast with Shaq, via People. "I could go out there and play. Give me a month, I mean, I could go play with anybody. … Like I said, I took care of my body great.”
Brady’s comments come on the heels of Philip Rivers’ recent return to the Indianapolis Colts. Rivers, 44, started for the Colts last weekend after a half-decade out of the league.
Though Brady is confident in his on-field ability, he believes that the commitment required to play an entire season in the NFL would be too big of an undertaking for him at this point.
"I could do it all," Brady said. "I, just, what I wouldn't want to do is make the commitment to play... It's like basketball season, do you really want to make the commitment to playing 82 games? That takes a lot of training and it's like I don't want to do that anymore."
Basically, it sounds like Brady is saying that if a team needed him for a playoff push, like the Colts situation with Rives, he would be able to deliver. But, while it’s fun to think about the G.O.A.T. Returning to action at close to 50, it’s probably not going to happen.
Not only is Brady in the midst of a 10-year, $375 million contract as an analyst with Fox Sports, he’s also a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. Both of those commitments keep him busy, and would prevent him from pursuing a comeback, if he were so inclined.
As the most decorated and accomplished NFL player of all time, Brady doesn’t have anything left to prove to anyone, but based on his comments, it’s clear that he still has the competitive drive that pushed him to greatness over the course of his career.