Lazar: Tom Brady’s Retirement Hopefully Means Patriots Fans Will Get Their Guy Back

Former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is retiring from professional football after 22 remarkable seasons, an announcement that’s now officially confirmed by TB12 sports.

No scribe can capture Brady’s legacy in words; seven-time Super Bowl champion, five-time Super Bowl MVP, three-time NFL MVP, 15-time Pro Bowl, six-time All-pro, the NFL’s all-time passing touchdown leader, the all-time passing yards leader, most career wins. Simply the greatest to ever do it, and we’ll never seen anything like it again.

Although we will no longer be able to watch Brady play, Patriots fans can find comfort in Brady’s own words following his return to Gillette Stadium last October on what ultimately was his farewell.

“I don’t know what the future holds. Obviously, it could be an opportunity to come back here,” Brady said following the Buccaneers’ 19-17 win over his former team in Foxborough.

“We’ll see. I feel like I’ll always be a part of this community. I’ll be up here quite a bit when it’s all said and done. When I retire, I’m sure there will be a lot of time for – you know, I have a lot of friends up here, and it’s a great place. My kids were born on Beacon Street in the city. It’s been an amazing place for me, it still is.”

The idea of Brady returning to the Patriots’ community in a similar vein to how other greats are ambassadors for their former teams is something that both team and player want.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft spoke about Brady receiving his Patriots Hall of Fame “red jacket,” and there will undoubtedly be statues or other representations of Brady around Gillette Stadium.

Typically, a committee presents fans with a three-player ballot where one Patriots legend is then voted into the Hall of Fame. But the organization will likely bypass that process for Brady.

Now that Brady is hanging them up, it’s time to reflect on a phenomenal career rather than discussing what led to his departure from the Patriots or his relationship with Bill Belichick.

We can discuss his greatest throws. My vote is for Troy Brown’s overtime game-winner in Miami on an 82-yard touchdown pass from his early years. In the middle of his career, it has to be a game-winning toss to Brandon LaFell in a thrilling victory over the Ravens in the 2014 postseason. In the later years, it was his Super Bowl-clinching throw to Rob Gronkowski to defeat the Rams in Super Bowl 53.

There will always be 28-3, three third-down conversions in the NFL’s loudest stadium in Kansas City to win the AFC Championship Game, a ten-point comeback against the Legion of Boom for Super Bowl #4, a record-breaking 2007 season, and owning real estate in every AFC East city for 20 seasons.

The best underdog of all-time became the greatest of all-time, and we have a front-row seat. Now, we get to reminisce about the good times.

For Patriots fans, Brady’s retirement means they can officially get their guy back, and that feels good after two years apart.