Tom Brady, don’t do it.
Stay home with your family, enjoy retirement and consider yourself the luckiest player to ever wear an NFL uniform.
The last thing you want to do is return to the league in pursuit of yet another Super Bowl title.
We get it. It worked when he left New England and joined Tampa Bay.
But another attempt would be a huge mistake. In fact, it would be legacy-damaging.
Brady, 44, would go from the most accomplished quarterback in league history with seven Super Bowl titles to nothing more than a ring-chaser, a desperate dude all about collecting more hardware, like it was crack.
For sure, this would be whack.
Nonetheless, there are those in the NFL media hinting that Brady could come back next season and possibly play for the San Francisco 49ers who lost in the NFC Championship Game to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.
The Niners were that close to getting to another Super Bowl. The 49ers have a good defense and run the ball. If there’s a weakness, it’s at QB. Jimmy Garoppolo is good, not great.
In fact, Jimmy G won at Dallas and Green Bay this postseason without throwing a touchdown in either game.
Hence, Brady smells blood.
And don’t try to make this a sappy homecoming deal. We get it. Brady grew up near San Francisco and was a huge Joe Montana fan when he won those four Super Bowls there.
Brady would have no interest in the 49ers if they were a middle-of-the-road team with holes.
That’s why Brady’s potential return is fraudulent.
If it was just about competing and trying to turn a franchise around, there would be plenty of places to go for Brady. More than half the teams in the NFL need a QB. If Brady went to the Jets or Texans, you’d have a story.
Brady is about Brady.
He’s so obsessed with getting a shiny trophy and proving he’s the best quarterback to ever play.
That’s why it was so important for him to win after he left the Patriots.
He knows those first three titles were about defense and the kicking game. And the last three involved a lot of luck, including Seattle throwing a pick in the end zone to lose and Atlanta choking down a 28-3 lead in the second half.
And even if you’re honest about it, Tampa Bay had a good defense and a lot of pieces in place. Brady was able to capitalize on that and win. Remember, the Bucs’ defense held K.C. QB Patrick Mahomes scoreless in the SB.
To try that again would reveal who Brady really is — all about self, a trophy whore.
This is the reason LeBron James doesn’t get all the respect he deserves. James is a ring-chaser, too.
He tries to figure out what’s the easiest road to a title, and he’s willing to bounce to that place.
James’ reputation with this is so bad that when they finally erect a statue in his honor, it will feature James holding both a basketball and a suitcase.
James has won four titles in his 19-year career for three teams. And let’s not even mention all the stats that he’s compiled. They are enormous.
Still, after the Lakers won that bubble championship in Orlando, James felt compelled to say, “I want my damn respect.”
You would think that James wouldn’t have to say anything like that given all his accomplishments. But deep down, at that point, he knew his peers didn’t like the way he did his business.
James only wanted to play with a stacked deck, starting when he went to Miami to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to form the NBA’s first player-generated Super Team.
Former NBA greats Walt Frazier and Dr. J publicly disapproved of these unions and took James to task.
At one point, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith, from the TNT crew, didn’t even rank James on their list of Top 10 players of all time.
Heck, even James’ peers discounted him. In fact, in the first year that players were allowed to vote for the All-Star Game in 2017, 128 players didn’t even vote for James in an exhibition game. It was telling.
The same will be true about Brady if he tries to jump on another bandwagon heading to the Super Bowl.
It will be a mistake and paint Brady in a light some won’t forget.