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Tom Brady biographer Lars Anderson still isn’t so sure that the legendary quarterback has hung up his cleats for good.
Anderson—who wrote Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness—was asked by Bridget Condon on Front Office Sports Tonight what regrets Brady may have.
“I think he wishes he got number eight,” Anderson said, referring to an additional Super Bowl championship. “I think he wishes circumstances could have been different and he could have kept playing.”
Anderson said that there was a moment during Brady’s final season in Tampa Bay, as his divorce to model Gisele Bündchen was finalized and the Buccaneers lost a game, where he appeared to be a “broken man.”
“Never in his life had he ever looked so unlike Tom Brady,” Anderson said. “Then at that moment, this was a picture of a broken man. And that ultimately is the picture that I want [to stick with] readers.”
Anderson was asked if Brady was “devastated” that Bündchen wanted him to end his playing career.
“He was devastated that she wanted to end their life together, for sure,” Anderson said. “I try not to traffic in this stuff. And I did not talk to either Tom or Gisele about their marriage and … God, I just can’t tell you how uncomfortable this whole thing makes me, because I certainly wouldn’t want somebody flashing a spotlight on my behavior that caused me to get a divorce when my kids were little. I don’t think any of us who have been through it before would. But I do think that if Tom had his druthers, he would be playing right now, and I would not be shocked if he somehow tries to play next year.”
Asked if this was based on conversations he’s had, Anderson acknowledged that it was “pure speculation” on his part.
Brady turns 50 in August, and in order to return to the NFL, he would need to divest from his stake in the Raiders, a franchise that appears to be on the rise after a 3-0 start to this season. In an interview with CNBC this past March, Brady—who is now in his third season as Fox’s lead NFL game analyst—revealed that he has “inquired” about a potential NFL comeback, but that he’s “very happily retired.”
