Brady calls it quits on an NFL career that will likely never be matched

Over 23 seasons with New England and Tampa Bay, he won seven championships

For good this time? For good. Or so it seems.

Tom Brady said so.

The seven-time Super Bowl-champion quarterback announced in a social media video that, at age 45, he has retired as a competitive football player — “for good.”

It was exactly one year ago

— on Feb. 1, 2022 — that Brady confirmed a three-day-old ESPN report and retired for the first time, only to unretire 40 days later. An irked Brady apparently interrupted a family vacation to confirm last year's retirement news, after someone in his inner circle leaked the news directly or indirectly to ESPN.

Brady proceeded to play his 23rd and final NFL season, just past, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He and the Bucs offence struggled all season. The team finished 8-9 but won the terrible NFC South division, only to get hammered by Dallas in the opening round of the playoffs.

In his announcement — which he appeared to have recorded himself, in a selfie-style closeup and posted to Twitter on Wednesday morning — he said:

“Good morning, guys. I'll get to the point right away: I'm retiring. For good. I know the process was a pretty big deal last time, so when I woke up this morning I figured I'd just press `record' and let you guys know first. So, I won't be long-winded. You only get one super-emotional retirement essay, and I used mine up last year.

“I really thank you guys so much, to every single one of you ... (slight pause as Brady got emotional) for supporting me — my family, my friends, my teammates, my competitors. I could go on forever; there's too many.

“Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream (then his eyes watered up more, and his voice began clutching). I wouldn't change a thing. Love you all.”

With that, the most accomplished NFL player ever — and one of the most iconic global sports stars of the century — stepped away from competitive football, after one hellish year.

The GOAT (greatest of all time) really is gone this time, it would appear.

Over 23 NFL seasons — the first 20 with the New England Patriots, the last three with the Bucs — Brady led his team to 10 Super Bowl appearances, seven Super Bowl wins and snagged five Super Bowl most valuable player awards — all records unlikely to be surpassed soon, if ever.

The native northern Californian furthermore earned three NFL MVP awards, six firstteam all-pro selections, 15 Pro Bowl selections — plus a slew of NFL career, single season and post-season records for both passing and winning, many of which likely won't ever be matched.

This past season, Brady and the entire Buccaneers offence struggled mightily to move the ball, or score, with any dependable regularity. Fielding the league's worst rushing attack was a huge factor, as was the confounding, continuing inability for Brady and his top pass-catchers to get on the same page. Right up to and including the playoff loss to the Cowboys, Brady too often threw to one place while a top wide receiver, usually Mike Evans, ran somewhere else.

For any team, for any QB-WR combo, that's rare and embarrassing.

For Brady, it was downright puzzling. It was clear to all that the 2022 offence was a mess, and co-ordinator Byron Leftwich was fired days after Tampa Bay was eliminated.

While Brady did not appear his old self this past season, and indeed at times seemed to finally be playing his age, it wasn't because his physical skills diminished. He even led the league for the second straight season in both completions (490) and attempts (733), as well as in lowest sack percentage (2.9 per cent).

Physically, he almost certainly could have continued playing. But maybe not at the level he's used to. What's more, his contract is up in Tampa Bay, and given the all-too visible frustrations he exhibited this past season, it seemed unlikely he'd return there.

Which necessarily would have meant resuming his career elsewhere — under a different coaching staff, in a different offence, with different surrounding playmakers, in a different city. Even though he won a Super Bowl in his first year in Tampa Bay in 2020, Brady surely knew the odds of that happening a second time had to have been mighty low.

How much of a factor was his split with wife Giselle Bundchen? Probably significant. Wherever she decides to settle down, Brady on a new team likely would have been far away — not from her but rather from their children. That never sits well for any dad with a heart.

So, now what will he do?

For starters, expect him to begin his already-arranged post-playing job right away as an analyst for Fox Sports.

Will he be the greatest to ever offer commentary in an NFL broadcast booth or studio? Probably not. With training he surely can get over speaking humps quickly and, given his competitiveness, he surely is up to the task.

But as a player, he has screamed his last “LET'S GOOOOOO!!!!!” on a football field.