Tom Brady retires. Seahawks’ Russell Wilson honors ‘the greatest,’ his standard setter
The legend to whom Russell Wilson wants to eventually compare himself as the greatest to ever do it is done doing it.
Tom Brady retired.
The seven-time Super Bowl-champion quarterback for the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers — the most NFL titles by any player — the five-time Super Bowl most valuable player and league record holder in touchdown passes, yards and so much more, announced his retirement online Tuesday.
“This is difficult for me to write, but here it goes: I am not going to make that competitive commitment anymore,” Brady, 44, wrote on Instagram nine days after his 22nd NFL season ended with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams. “I have loved my NFL career, and now it is time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention. I’ve done a lot of reflecting the past week and have asked myself difficult questions. And I am so proud of what we have achieved. My teammates, coaches, fellow competitors, and fans deserve 100% of me, but right now, it’s best I leave the field of play to the next generation of dedicated and committed athletes.”
Wilson responded by honoring Brady online Tuesday morning.
“Congrats to the Greatest. @TomBrady #12,” the Seahawks quarterback posted on Twitter.
For years Wilson, now 33, has held Brady as the ultimate, the man who has set the standard Wilson is striving to approach in his goal to be the greatest to ever play in the NFL.
Much of Wilson’s public frustration the last couple years has been as he’s remained on one Super Bowl ring, for Seattle at the end of the 2013 season. He and his Seahawks haven’t advanced past the second round of the playoffs since their last Super Bowl, against Brady and the Patriots at the end of the 2014 season.
Even with wanting to play at least another 10 more years, Wilson has to win six more Super Bowls to equal what Brady did in his iconic career.
The clock keeps ticking.
Wilson and his wife Ciara were in the stadium in Florida 12 months ago watching Brady win his seventh Super Bowl. Wilson was there being honored by the league as the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year for 2020.
Days after witnessing that game, Wilson said on a conference call with Seattle reporters when asked if he was frustrated with the Seahawks: “I’m frustrated with getting hit too much.”
It was at that Super Bowl last year in Tampa that Wilson said he, “of course” considers Brady the greatest of all time.
“He’s won more championships than anybody else,” Wilson said while attending a Bose Healthcare for Heroes event at Super Bowl 55, before Brady’s and Tampa Bay’s victory over Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
“I think that’s why you play this game, to win ‘em,” Wilson said. “And he’s been able to do that over the years.”
In 2018, Wilson said of Brady on NFL Network’s Top 100 players of all time show: “The thing about Tom is — he’s super clutch. He’s on time.
“When the game is on the line, he has no fear. … I’ve got a lot of respect for Tom. How could you not?
“He’s the greatest of all time.”
Wilson was 2-1 in his career against the “GOAT.”
Seattle’s quarterback rallied the Seahawks past Brady’s Patriots for a 24-23 home win in October 2012, Wilson’s rookie season. That was the “You Mad, Bro?” game. Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman went up to Brady on the field and uttered that to Brady as the Patriots’ star walked off without talking to Sherman. It became a Sports Illustrated cover and a national catchphrase.
Wilson also brought the Seahawks back from a fourth-quarter deficit to win over Brady at New England in a thrilling Sunday night game during the 2016 season.
Of course, Wilson’s one loss against Brady was in the game that mattered most: their only game against each other in a Super Bowl.
Brady and New England rallied from down 24-14 with 8 minutes left to beat Wilson and the Seahawks in Super Bowl 49, Feb. 1, 2015.
That game ended with Wilson’s most infamous pass, from the 1-yard line in the final seconds. The Patriots’ Malcolm Butler intercepted it to deny Wilson and Seattle a second consecutive Super Bowl title.
On the field immediately after that game, Wilson and Brady met. They embraced.
“Great game, great game,” an NFL Films camera captured Wilson telling Brady. “I love watching you, bro.”
Wilson said in 2019 his initial goal upon entering the NFL as the Seahawks’ third-round draft choice in 2012 had been “to, really, play until I was 43.” That would be him playing 20 years, to match what his favorite player growing up, Derek Jeter, played for the New York Yankees before he retired from Major League Baseball in 2014.
“And then, obviously, seeing Tom do it — I’ve gotten to know Tom over the last several years ... I think, for me, (playing as long as Brady) is realistic.”
This past December, Wilson said “my prayer, my hope” is to play in Seattle for 20 years. That would be through 2032, when he’d be 44 years old.
Brady is 44 upon his retirement Tuesday.
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 11:21 AM.
