TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers season came to an end Monday night with a 31-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card round. With that loss, the career of quarterback Tom Brady with the Bucs may have ended together.
Brady had 21 straight seasons with a winning record — until this season, with the Bucs finishing 8-9 and a first-round playoff exit. Safe to say this is not what Brady came back from retirement for, but is this how it ends?
The 45-year-old quarterback threw 66 passes against Dallas, mostly getting knocked around and out of the playoffs. After the game, Brady tried to explain what went wrong.
“It was kind of typical the way we played all year,” he said. “Just inefficient in the passing game, not very good in the running game. It’s hard to beat good teams like that.”
When the game ended, Brady walked off the field, tipping his cap to the Bucs fans on his way to the tunnel, where he kissed his parents before going to the locker room.
“Yeah, it just feels like the end of a season,” Brady added.
He will be a free agent in 2023. Maybe he’ll end up in the broadcast booth or continue playing at age 46. There’s always the possibility of returning to the Bucs. A few of his teammates gave their pitch for him to stay.
“Whatever he decided to do, I will be happy for him,” offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs said. “I’ll twist his arm to stay. Me and him get to play together another year. That’s my pitch.”
“I’m always willing to have Tom for another year if he’s willing to play and stay,” linebacker Shaq Barrett added. “You always got to account for Tom. You can’t get another Tom Brady anywhere.”
As for Brady, he ended his brief postgame interview with this:
“I love this organization; it’s a great place to be,” Brady said. “Thank you, everybody, for welcoming me. All you regulars. Just grateful for the respect. I hope I gave the same thing back to you guys. So thank you very much.”
Barrett joked that just maybe the team bringing back its creamsicle uniforms could be enough to keep Brady in Tampa.
