10 February 2023 , 21:35
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Tom Brady has written to the NFL to confirm his decision to retire, ending any speculation he could look to return once again.
Brady emotionally announced his retirement at the end of January, declaring he was done with playing. His retirement came a year after he initially walked away from the sport - only to return a month later for one final season.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a pretty poor campaign last time out, losing to the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card round - leading to many believing he would continue playing in the NFL but look to leave for a new team in free agency.
Instead, he announced he would walk away and retire for the second time in his career, although many still believed he was waiting to see what happened with the quarterback free agent market before making a final decision.
Now, it seems that decision has been made. According to ESPN, Brady wrote to the NFL on Friday - just days before Super Bowl LVII, to confirm he was retiring, and therefore confirming his eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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Brady will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2028 - once he completes the five-year grace period. He will undoubtedly be voted in unanimously at the earliest opportunity.
Tom Brady retired from the NFL with an emotional video last month (@TomBrady/Twitter)The 45-year-old NFL icon has signed a deal to become a pundit on FOX - worth a whopping $275million over the course of ten years. He will be reunited with his friend and former team-mate Rob Gronkowski, who spoke exclusively to Mirror Sport about their reunion.
He said: “I’m looking forward to see what he brings to the booth, and I know he'll be work really hard at it to be great. He has so much experience, he knows football, so I think he’s going to be really good at it."
Speaking about breaking down plays with Brady, Gronkowski added: “There really hasn't been any plans or anything or any talks about it, but that definitely could be a possibility. We could banter back and forth in some way, somehow, maybe do a couple promos together or whatever it is. That will be down the road. Time will have to tell with that.”
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