Tom Brady’s iconic career in the NFL has officially come to an end. The future Hall of Fame quarterback announced his retirement on Wednesday after spending over two decades in the league.
His career will go down as one of the greatest an athlete has ever had, with Brady collecting seven Super Bowl rings, five Super Bowl MVPs, three NFL MVPs, and countless statistical records that will be high water marks players will chase for generations.
It’s undeniable that Brady had an impact on the NFL that will stand the test of time, and his career was unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Love him or hate him, watching Tom Brady do what he did for the last 22 years was special.
Of course, on that long of a career timeline, you’re bound to rub someone’s rhubarb the wrong way. Brady will forever be remembered as the greatest New England Patriots player to ever put on the team’s uniform. It’s clear, however, that there are still hurt feelings over his departure three years ago, and those flared up in the fallout of his retirement announcement.
After Brady posted his retirement video tributes began to pour in from all corners of the sports world. Some fans rejoiced at the news that Brady’s reign was finally over, others took a step back and gave the greatest quarterback of all-time his flowers.
The New England Patriots went half a step above posting a Thumbs Up emoji, and simply quote-tweeted their retirement graphic the team’s Twitter account posted last year.
Patriots have petty reaction to Tom Brady retirement news
It’s so petty that it’s brilliant:
The Patriots recycling their Tom Brady tribute is just spectacular pic.twitter.com/lDMNFXmOZV
— Benjamin Hoffman (@BenHoffmanNYT) February 1, 2023
To be fair, this is the most Boston way the team could have reacted to his retirement. To essentially go we already did this last year, but thanks again Tommy, is legendary levels of pettiness that we’d almost be disappointed if we didn’t see it.
The team shrugged off news that the greatest player in franchise history is calling it a career. That’s amazing stuff right there.
Of course, it’s possible to point the finger at Brady for this too. A lot was made about Brady’s retirement message last season that failed to mention the Patriots at all when recounting all of his career accomplishments.
So it could be argued that Brady started this. The Patriots, however, certainly finished it.