In what was a truly hectic NFL offseason, one of the biggest stories belonged to Tom Brady. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Hall of Fame-bound quarterback shocked the world by announcing his retirement just weeks after his divisional round loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Then, less than two months later, Brady announced that he would be un-retiring and returning to the Buccaneers for another Super Bowl run. This was much to the disappointment of Rams head coach Sean McVay, who nearly saw his Super Bowl run collapse at the hands of yet another Brady comeback.
McVay commented on Brady’s retirement and return, joking that he wants to get Brady out of the league for his own benefit. Brady took to Twitter to respond to this comment with a comedic moment of his own:
https://t.co/c0H5ItAnDp pic.twitter.com/GCETzZGw2w
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) March 29, 2022
Despite being 44 years of age, it came as a surprise to many when Brady first announced his retirement. His team was the clear-cut favorite to win the NFC South in 2022 if he stayed, and Brady finished second in MVP voting behind Aaron Rodgers.
By all indications, Brady was playing some of the best football of his career, and his team was one Matthew Stafford to Cooper Kupp deep throw downfield from going to the NFC Championship Game after a 27-3 comeback. There didn’t seem like much of a reason for him to walk away.
And after 40 days spent in retirement, Brady ultimately agreed with that assessment. He saw that two of the four NFC South teams — the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers — were entering rebuilds, while the New Orleans Saints just lost their Hall of Fame head coach in Sean Payton.
He also saw plenty of starpower — including Russell Wilson, Khalil Mack and Davante Adams — relocate from the NFC to the AFC. But McVay’s comments show that he saw the same writing on the wall, giving the Rams a strong shot to get back to the Super Bowl.
Now, the Buccaneers and Rams appear to be the top contenders in the NFC, and the return of Brady absolutely clouds things up for L.A. Of course, there is still the entire season to be played, but the story behind this back-and-forth between Brady and McVay certainly makes for a good laugh.
McVay confirms Aaron Donald return
While the two sides are still working on a contract negotiation, McVay confirmed that All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald will be returning to the Rams in 2022. He was perhaps the biggest offseason priority when it was revealed that he was considering retirement.
