Tom Brady is retiring at the age of 44 after 22 decorated seasons in the NFL, ESPN reported on Sunday.
The New York Post reports the future Hall of Fame quarterback finishes his career with seven Super Bowl championships, three MVPsand five Super Bowl MVPs. His quest for one more ring ended last week when his Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC divisional round of the playoffs.
Brady long talked about playing until he was 45 — his birthday is in August — but spoke earlier this week of his family playing a big role in his decision on whether or not to retire.
"My wife is my biggest supporter," Brady said on his Let's Go! podcast. "It pains her to see me get hit out there, and she deserves what she needs from me as a husband and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad.
"I'm gonna spend some time with them and give them what they need, because they've really been giving me what I need the last six months — to do what I need to do and I said this a few years ago.
"It's what relationships are all about. It's not always about what I want. It's about what we want as a family. And I'm gonna spend a lot of time with them and figure out in the future what's next."
Fans, journalists, current and former teammates and other NFL stars were all quick to react to the news.
Tom Brady’s resume is unmatched: ⁰⁰7x Super Bowl Champion 5x Super Bowl MVP 3x NFL MVP 15x Pro Bowl 5x NFL Passing Touchdowns Leader 4x NFL Passing Yards Leader 2x NFL Offensive Player of the Year 3x First-Team All-Pro⁰⁰What a run pic.twitter.com/FSiYYh3mD0
I remember watching @TomBrady beat my Philadelphia Eagles in the 2005 Super Bowl and crying my eyes out, and then the tears of joy when we beat him in the Super Bowl 4 years ago. Hats off to the greatest to ever do it and the 22 years of memories he gave us all ✊🏾💯
