I still don't get your obsession with Brady retiring so soon. He has REPEATEDLY (like, more times than I can remember to count) told the media in interviews and press conferences he wants to play until he's 40. He is one of the most competitive players in the NFL. If he would have been playing today, and even if he would have won, he wouldn't retire. He will be the QB for the Pats for AT LEAST the next 6 years. He just loves playing the game too much.
Not to mention.. who the **** would ever retire after just being named the FIRST unanimous MVP in the history of the league? He also became the first player ever to win MVP and OPOTY in the same season twice.
Steve Young could have played until he was 42, like former Niner Steve DeBerg, and Young was better in nearly every aspect (except for sheer longevity), but in the end he didn't.
Rich Gannon could have played with the Oakland Raiders until he was the same age as George Blanda, but unfortunately he didn't either. I also wanted to see Jerry Rice spend his entire career as a Niner and it pained me to see him do well with other teams when he could have helped us. It wasn't bad that he did so well with the local Raiders but I would have preferred to see him as a Niner. When he went to Seattle, he wasn't bad but by then he had left the Bay Area and that was hard to watch.
Nothing is forever.
I admit Rice and Favre have played past age 40, but they are extremely rare and exceptional especially in this day and age. I can see Brady going another two years at most and maybe, like Elway, he can pick up two more rings in the process and end his career on a high note. That is not completely crazy.
However, playing another six years is totally out of the question. If Brady says he wants to play to 40 by his sheer will, well heck, let's have him play until he's 45, right? I think Favre has played way too long and it would be a shame to see Brady go the same path and watching fans expect Brady to be the same guy who won three super bowls in four years. I say have Brady go a year or two more, and hopefully for him, win at least another ring or appear in at least one more big game, and then end his career while he's still on top.
It's much better to see a veteran player end his career like a Bettis or Elway, with the trophy and a ring, don't you think? You make the same mistake I did in seeing a player for who he once was. Over in San Francisco, Steve Young put up some very good numbers in his later career, but he was in no way the same QB who ruled the roost in 1992, 1993, and 1994. Not only was Steve Young with good numbers, but he was as tough as nails and a pretty reliable bet to bounce back from big hits and injuries. The Steve Young in the late 1990s may have had some of the same skills, but not the same durability.
So Young didn't play until he was 40, but then again it's football, not golf. What makes you think Brady is tougher than Young or at least the equal in toughness and consistency as Favre?
Brady is great but there is no way he will make it another six years. That is crazy talk.
