Seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady turned plenty of heads when he avoided a sack and threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Stefon Diggs in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic in Los Angeles last week. Brady shared the play by reposting it on X, with the caption, “Gets you thinking…”
Brady kept his post vague, leaving plenty of room for interpretation. One of those interpretations was Brady indicating that he was considering suiting back up and throwing touchdown passes in the NFL. In an interview with CNBC this week, Brady dismissed the idea of an NFL comeback.
“I’m very happily retired, let me just say that,” Brady said. “I loved being out there playing in the flag game. I loved not getting hit. I’ve got a lot of really fun things I’m involved in. It’s never going to be old throwing passes to incredible athletes on the football field. But if anything, that game reconfirmed to me that I’m very happy in my retirement.”
Since Brady retired from playing in the NFL in 2023, he’s gotten involved in a variety of ventures. Most notably, Brady has become the No. 1 color commentator for the NFL on Fox and a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. In the CNBC interview, Brady wasn’t asked directly whether he’s considered returning to play in the NFL, but he was asked whether he’s looked into the league’s rules on someone involved in ownership also being a player.
“Funny enough you ask, I actually have inquired,” Brady said. “They don’t like that idea very much, so I’m going to leave it at that. We explored a lot of different things. And I’m very happily retired, let me just say that, too.”
In 2023, the NFL adopted a policy prohibiting players and non-family team employees from holding equity in a team. If Brady, who turns 49 years old in August, were to explore playing again, he would need to sell his share in the Raiders’ ownership. Additionally, as was the case with Philip Rivers returning to play in the 2025 season, his Hall of Fame eligibility clock would reset. Currently, Brady is on pace to be eligible for the Hall of Fame class of 2028.
Between his broadcast job and Raiders ownership, Brady has already been in the spotlight for a potential conflict of interest, a notion that he’s dismissed as “paranoia and distrust.”
The New England Patriots selected Brady in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. Brady went on to play 23 years in the league, with the first 20 years with the Patriots and the final three with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady holds many all-time quarterback records and is widely regarded as the greatest to ever play the position.