Tom Brady captured his seventh ring in the Buccaneers’ victory in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in a relatively non-competitive game. Tom Brady put up 31 points against the Chiefs’ defense, but that wasn’t the key matchup of the game.
The matchup that proved to have the biggest in the game didn’t feature either of the two quarterbacks. The Buccaneers’ defensive line against the Chiefs’ offensive line turned out to be the deciding factor in Super Bowl LV. Mahomes was running for his life on almost every drop back. Mahomes was pressured 29 times, which is more than any other quarterback in Super Bowl history.
In the end, Brady now has more Super Bowl victories than any franchise in the league. Brady has won seven out of the 10 Super Bowls he has appeared in. After winning his latest championship, there’s one important question surrounding the 43-year-old quarterback: How much longer will he play for?
Brady has mentioned he would “definitely consider” playing past 45-years old. But how long can he stay competitive? In 2019, Brady threw his second lowest touchdown season total of his career (counting only seasons that he played more than one game). Leading up to the latest Super Bowl, rumors swirled about whether he could still compete at a high level.
Brady answered the doubters with an incredible showing. With a new environment, coaches, and teammates, he put up one of his most outstanding seasons of his 21-year career. He threw his second most touchdown passes in a season in his first year with Tampa Bay. Surrounded by incredible weapons such as Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, and Rob Gronkowski, Brady flourished.
Brady could easily play through age 45 with his current career trajectory. Let’s begin with some projections. Brady will probably finish his career in Tampa Bay, but could sign a one-day contract to retire as a New England Patriot.
Now the interesting part: it’s easy to pick Brady to possibly reach next year’s Super Bowl. He goes on to lose Super Bowl LVI, but doesn’t retire after that. Teams very rarely win back-to-back Super Bowls. That brings Brady to his age 45 season in which he takes Tampa Bay to another championship victory.
After hard consideration, Brady returns for his final season at 46. For the sake of prediction, he will go out on the bottom as he doesn’t get to the Super Bowl again before retiring.
Brady conquered a historic night on Feb. 7 against Kansas City, but there will be more to add to the legacy of his career in the coming seasons.
Nicholas Mundy
namundy@vwu.edu
