Madden NFL players the world over are going to be able to have Tom Brady lead their digital teams to glory at least one more time. That's because the former New England Patriots and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback is no longer retiring.
Tom Brady announced his retirement last month, seemingly ending what is sure to be a Hall of Fame run. The 2021 season also happened to be inarguably one of his best individual seasons as he threw for 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions. That followed his Super Bowl-winning 2020 season where he had 40 TDs and 12 INTs. Those touchdown numbers were the highest since he threw 50 in 2007, but after 22 years the quarterback had seemingly decided to hang up the spikes.
That was until Sunday, when the Madden NFL 22 cover athlete announced he was coming back for at least one more season. On his Twitter account, Brady announced that over the last two months, he realized his place was "still on the field and not in the stands."
The future Hall of Famer who has actually appeared on numerous Madden NFL covers added that he knows that retirement is coming for him at some point, but it's just not now. He finished by saying that he loves both his teammates and his supportive family but that he was also making it clear that he is returning for his 23rd season and is coming back to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a third year.
The announcement that he was coming back to the NFL less than two full months after he announced he was leaving caught most of social media off guard. However, it turns out there were hints that he might have been having second thoughts in a video that was circulating the net a day earlier. In that video he was talking to international soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo when Ronaldo asked him the quarterback if he was "finished." Brady could be seen looking like he might be holding something back.
Not long after Brady announced he was coming back, some NFL fans started dreaming on what his potential final season could involve. Because the Bucs are going to be playing the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022, his return means that he'll be facing off against the man he shared the cover of Madden NFL 22 with, Patrick Mahomes. Of course, more important than sharing time in a Madden NFL game, that matchup will also be a rematch of Super Bowl 55.