Tom Brady has not had the greatest of autumns, personally or professionally, to put it mildly. His in-season divorce from Gisele Bundchen and the sudden collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX have intersected with a mediocre start to his 23rd NFL campaign.
As to the football part, the 45-year-old Buccaneers quarterback is not second-guessing his decision last winter to end his retirement after five-plus weeks.
“Zero. No. Definitely not,” Brady told reporters Friday in Munich when asked whether he regrets having changed his mind. “I returned because I felt like I wanted to compete and I spoke to the team about it and they were excited to have me back.
MORE: Brady opens up about how split with Bundchen has impacted his play
“I don’t really regret those types of things. I think when I commit to it, I mean it and I do my best and try to give everything I can to this particular opportunity.”
Tom Brady on if he has any regrets about ending his retirement after 40 days this off-season. “Zero. No. Definitely not.” pic.twitter.com/Zw57r4EQ6y
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) November 12, 2022
It was clear during his news conference ahead of Sunday’s game at Allianz Arena vs. the Seahawks that Brady still relishes being in uniform.
“I love playing the games. I love practicing. I love working out. I love communicating with my teammates and being in a leadership role,” he said. “There’s some aspects of playing which are just the games, which, yeah, those are definitely enjoyable. But if you really love the sport, you love everything about it. You love the preparation, you love to train for it.
MORE: Brady slams Bucs' effort during season: ‘Probably the most embarrassing part of our team’
“I think that’s why I’ve been able to play so long, because it’s never really felt like work. I just felt like I’ve been able to do something I love to do for a long period of time. It’s hard for me to believe I’m still playing at this age, but I enjoy it and I love competing, and certainly games like last week are reasons why we do do it because there’s a thrill of victory that’s hard to replicate at home on your Xbox or something like that.”
Last week, Brady pulled off another fourth-quarter comeback to give Tampa Bay an important win over the Rams. The victory pushed the Bucs (4-5) back into first place in the NFC South and helped to ease some of his frustration over the offense’s season-long struggles.
MORE: How Brady & the Bucs went 60 yards in 35 seconds to beat the Rams
Brady is riding the thrill of that victory into this week’s contest, the first NFL game to be played in Germany. He will embrace the challenge of pushing his team to .500 against NFC West-leading Seattle.