Earlier this month, Gisele Bundchen once again talked about how she hasn’t been able to persuade her husband, Tom Brady, to retire from the NFL, telling Ellen DeGeneres that “I haven’t been very successful” at getting him to step down. Now it looks as if the Patriots quarterback isn’t going to hang it up after what has become a somewhat difficult 2018 season.
“I absolutely believe I will,” Brady said when asked by Westwood One’s Jim Gray about whether he’ll be back in 2019. “I know I’ve talked about it a long time. I have goals to play not only next year but beyond that. And I’m going to try to do it as best as I possibly can. I’m going to give it everything I have, like I always have. It will certainly be a challenge. I don’t take any of these things for granted. But I hope I can keep playing. I hope I can keep playing at a championship level.”
Brady will be 42 at the start of next season, and he’s said in the past that he would like to play until he’s well into his 40s. Should he return he would become one of the oldest regular starting quarterbacks in NFL history, joining the likes of Vinny Testaverde, Warren Moon and Brett Favre, all of whom started multiple games while on the north side of 40.
“I’ve been able to be in a career for 19 years that I love,” Brady said. “I wake up every day excited to go to work … fulfilled … I don’t think there’s any greater gift in my life than to have that. … In my heart and soul, I love playing the sport of football.”
The Patriots have clinched the AFC East title for the 16th time in Brady’s career, but the season has seemed to be a bit of a slog. Brady has thrown 11 interceptions, his highest total since 2013, and his QBR is 67.4, his lowest since that same season. Rob Gronkowski clearly isn’t the same player he once was, Julian Edelman has battled an ankle injury this season and Josh Gordon has once again been bounced out of the league. Nevertheless, the Patriots are poised to secure a first-round playoff bye this weekend, and have a chance to claim the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
LESS THAN 24 hours after the Patriots clinched the division on Sunday, Brady publicly turned the page and started looking ahead to Week 17 and the New York Jets.
“If you win, it’s essentially a playoff win, and I think those are hard to come by. So this particular week is essentially a playoff week for us,” Brady said while on WEEI radio. “If we win, we keep advancing, and obviously we advance past the first round.”
Scenarios are pretty simple for the Patriots (10-5), who clinch home-field advantage throughout AFC playoffs with a win and losses by the Chiefs and Chargers. New England clinches a first-round bye with a win, or a tie and a Houston loss, or a Houston loss along with losses or ties by the Ravens and Titans.
“I think the sense of urgency and your preparation has to be at an all-time high,” said wide receiver Chris Hogan. “Put everything you’ve got into this week and whatever happens after that happens because at this point, we’re really down to one-week seasons. And we know that, and a lot of guys have been in these situations before.”
SONY MICHEL, the Patriots first-round draft pick, has 881 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns this season, more rushing yards than any rookie under Coach Bill Belichick, beating Laurence Maroney’s mark (745 yards) from 2006. His six rushing TDs are tied with Maroney for the most under Belichick.
He’s missed three games, but Michel is rushing for 73.4 yards per game, ninth best in the NFL. With one game remaining, Michel has the fifth most rushing yards for a rookie running back in team history behind Curtis Martin (1,487 in 1995), John Stephens (1,168 in 1988), Robert Edwards (1,115 in 1998) and Leonard Russell (959 in 1991).
WIDE RECEIVER and kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson did not finish Sunday’s 24-12 win over the Bills, but he did start practice Wednesday.
After suffering a knee injury, Patterson was present for the beginning of the Patriots’ walkthrough. Players were not in jerseys for the nonpadded session, though most were accounted for, including every offensive and defensive starter. Patterson was the only player officially sidelined Sunday due to injury.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.