Tom Brady puts an end to comeback rumors in the purr-fect way

Tom Brady is done. Like, actually done. Rumors of his comeback to the NFL were squashed after Brady personally responded to the speculation on Twitter.

One month after Tom Brady announced his retirement on Twitter, rumors started spreading about him un-retiring and landing in Miami. Brady and the Miami Dolphins have been linked ever since last offseason with most of the speculation dissipating following his second retirement. Even Brady filing his retirement papers last month couldn’t convince the NFL media hounds to stay down, and the potential of Brady suiting up in the AFC East started to feel real again.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter had to learn his lesson about breaking news on Tom Brady the hard way. This time, it was Dov Kleiman and Rich Eisen who felt the wrath of Brady’s annoyance.

On Tuesday, the former New England Patriots quarterback responded to one of Kleiman’s tweets about the Dolphins rumors and shut him down:

Compared to his other less-PG posts, Brady slams the door on a potential comeback in a very wholesome way.

Tom Brady, reformed as a family man, closes the door on comeback rumors

Of course, the Brady superfans and those who want to see him play until he dies on the field will point out that Brady said he didn’t have “time” to come back to the NFL, not that he didn’t want to.

Nitpicking semantics is no way to respect a retired man’s wishes, and other than very vague speculation by talking heads, there’s absolutely no indication that Brady is returning in 2023. The NFL community keeps testing Brady and it keeps getting the same answer, so maybe just…. stop? Stop coaxing the G.O.A.T. to come out of retirement and let him spend time with his family in peace.

Brady has a FOX analyst job lined up for him in 2024 and has insisted that he plans on staying retired, a sentiment he has not at all wavered from in the last month. And just a reminder: it’s only been a month, people.

Maybe if in the middle of the 2023 season, the San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback room suddenly falls ill, then the Brady comeback rumors would make more sense.

For now, it appears as though Brady is trying to change his image from “grumpy tablet-throwing divorcee” to “kitten-adopting family man.” He’s already won everything there is to win in football and has spent decades entertaining the masses on TV screens, so let him do what he wants.

Some NFL players’ careers don’t get a cut-and-dried ending, but Tom Brady is putting an emphatic period to his own story in 2023.