Tom Brady Delivers the Message of Hope We All Needed to Hear
I just wanted to say to all of our fans, THANK YOU! After a few days of reflection, I am so grateful and humbled by the unconditional support you have shown me the past two decades. Running out of that tunnel every week is a feeling that is hard to explain. I wish every season ended in a win, but that’s not the nature of sports (or life). Nobody plays to lose. But the reward for working hard is just that, the work!! I have been blessed to find a career I love, teammates who go to battle with me, an organization that believes in me, and fans who have been behind us every step of the way.
Every one of us that works at Gillette Stadium strived to do their best, spent themselves at a worthy cause, and prepared to fail while daring greatly (h/t Teddy Roosevelt). And for that, we’ve been rewarded with something that the scoreboard won’t show - the satisfaction of knowing we gave everything to each other in pursuit of a common goal. That is what TEAM is all about.
In both life and football, failure is inevitable. You dont always win. You can, however, learn from that failure, pick yourself up with great enthusiasm, and place yourself in the arena again.
And that’s right where you will find me. Because I know I still have more to prove.
If I could've drawn up a punch list of all the things I needed to hear out of Tom Brady right now, this post by him would check the box on virtually all of them.
Notice the verb usage. Nothing in the Past tense. All Present tense, "Running out of that tunnel is a feeling that is hard to explain," or Perfect Progressive tense, "fans who have been behind us." These are not the words and this is not the grammar of a man who has reached the end of anything.
Nor are these the thoughts of a player who's looking to move on. What do the Patriots do to him? The "organization believes in me." How does he regard his teammates? They "gave everything to each other in pursuit of a common goal." What can anyone do going forward? You can "learn from that failure, pick yourse;lf up with great enthusiasm and place yourself in the arena again."
Most importantly, what's his future hold? "I still have more to prove."
Annnddd ... I'm finished. Clean up in aisle Jerry.
The fact remains that Tom Brady is playing in 2020. As Tom Brady Sr. has said in published interviews and I can confirm because I've gotten confirmation from a source, whether or not he plays in New England is entirely up to Bill Belichick. If GM Bill decides Coach Bill will be best off with Brady back under center, it'll happen. If not, he'll play elsewhere. And nobody wants that.
There are only two ways this statement from the GOAT could've been better. One, if it ended with Brady declaring he just signed a contract extension. The other is if he simply said this:
#StillHere. For 2020 and beyond.