Looking back at the last decade in the NFL, there is one quarterback that engrained his mark in the league’s history. Tom Brady lit up defenses for years but his reign over the league looks to be over due to an uncanny reason.
Brady, an undervalued quarterback coming out of Michigan, was drafted into the league in 2001 to the New England Patriots. As a fifth round draft pick, Brady took the backseat to Drew Bledsoe in his first year. However, Bledsoe was injured in Brady’s second year and Brady took over the starting quarterback role and kept that for years to come. In his third year, Brady won his first superbowl, a foreshadowing of things to come. The Patriots QB played 20 years for the team, having an impressive 219-64 record along with six super bowls and three NFL Most Valuable Player awards. Brady finally separated from the dynasty that brought him so much success in 2019 as he left for Tampa Bay to play for the Buccaneers. To no one’s surprise, Brady won his seventh super bowl in the 2020-21 season, the most in NFL history.
After the 2021 season, Brady decided to retire and spend more time with his family. He contradicted his statement a few months later as he un-retired and prepared for another season in the league. This came as a surprise to many media outlets and the football world.
“I decided to talk with my family and I said ‘I think I want to do this one more time if you guys support that,’” Brady stated. “My wife was so supportive of it and she said ‘Look I want you to be happy. I want you to go out there and win.’”
Brady also admits that he was pressured into a decision to un-retire as he announced his decision to return right before the start of free agency. His reasoning for returning was due to the NFL calendar and out of respect to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization according to an interview with Complex.
With his decision to return, it seemed like Brady chose football over his family. Gisele Bundchen, Brady’s wife, seemingly took notice, and divorce rumors between the two started around August and the start of Buccaneers training camp. During training camp, Brady took some time off due to ‘personal reasons’ and missed 11 days. It seemed weird at the time that Brady was taking time off but now it looks like this was due to the potential split between Brady and Bundchen. Although an official divorce did not occur after Brady’s 11 day absence, the divorce rumors continued to heat up. Brady has faced a media frenzy due to these rumors, and on Oct. 28, 2022, the two announced their official divorce.
Throughout the last nine weeks, Brady has seemed physically and mentally affected by the ending of his marriage which has led to subpar play. Brady, who is 45 years old, has played fairly well this season but the Bucs overall record has not proved this. The Buccaneers sit at 4-5 on the season and only have the 24th ranked offense in the NFL. Many people are wondering why the Buccaneers are struggling so much and I believe there is a deeper reason.
Due to the recent divorce, it seems Brady has changed physically and mentally. A video surfaced a few weeks back when the Bucs played the Panthers and Brady was seen yelling at his teammates during the game. Brady has always been known as a legendary leader but it appears that Brady’s personal problems have altered his leadership. His mental health seems the worst it’s ever been as Brady has been seen looking like a ghost or a discombobulated person during interviews. If Brady is not fully locked into the season, it makes sense that the Buccaneers are experiencing failure on the offensive end. Brady’s struggles have nothing to do with football and everything to do with his mental health. At the end of the day, Brady is human and is going through a tough time which is obviously taking a toll on him. Football fans aren’t used to seeing Brady down for the count. As the most decorated quarterback to ever play the game, he’s seemed unstoppable on the field, defying even the aging process as an “old” athlete still able to hold his own with players half his age. But in life he’s just like the rest of us – human.
