Adam Schefter provides further insight into Tom Brady's retirement

ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter took the NFL world by storm on Saturday, when he reported that Tom Brady is retiring after 22 seasons in the NFL.

Shortly after the news broke, at halftime of the Auburn-Oklahoma basketball showdown, Rece Davis, LaPhonso Ellis, Seth Greenberg and the College GameDay cast invited Schefter onto the halftime show to give more insight into Brady’s decision.

“(Brady) talked on his podcast this past week with Jim Gray about the fact that it’s time to spend more time with family (with the) sacrifice the NFL takes,” Schefter said on ESPN. “If you look at the body of work after 22 seasons, becoming the most accomplished passer and player in NFL history. Seven rings. What else is there to do at this point in time? It’s time to move onto the next chapter of your life, to spend time with your family, to go onto other business ventures. Obviously, he’s got the TB12 company. He believes so much in all those products that he endorses. And so, I think there’s so much that he still wants to do, and again, at this point in time, he’s readiy to move on and move away from football. It’s a long, storied career; an incredible run, and we’ll see when he decides to make the news official and announce it himself.”

The Buccaneers nearly mounted a historic come-from-behind victory over the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL Playoffs. Brady helped lead Tampa Bay back from a 27-3 second-half deficit to tie the game, but the Rams eventually pulled away via a last-second field goal from Matt Gay.

“It’s an adjustment for everybody,” Schefter said, when asked how a routine-driven player like Brady might handle retirement. “Anybody that plays sports at a high level for any high period of time, even not at a high level, whenever they go away from the sport, it’s a transition. And Tom Brady is about to transition into the next phase of his life for something that was such a dear part of his life for so long, for such a long period of time, and again, he’s about to do what others have done (retire), but nobody has done it at the level that he has, for as long as he has. But again, obviously he’s given a lot of thought to this, and what he’d like to do next, and now he begins to take the next steps into the next chapter of his career.”

Perhaps more interestingly, Schefter revealed that “the Buccaneers have not heard from Tom Brady. They’re still waiting to hear, so this is still developing.” But regardless, Schefter says that the retirement announcement is impending.

Tom Brady retires after 22 NFL seasons

The NFL world was turned upside down on Saturday, when ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported that Tom Brady is officially hanging up the cleats and retiring after 22 seasons in the NFL.

The Seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback will go down as the best quarterback of all-time in the minds of the many. Nobody was a fiercer competitor, and nobody defied Father Time like Brady.

While Brady is walking away from the game, it’s clear he still has more left in the tank. At the age of 44, the Buccaneers quarterback is coming off one of his best statistical season. Brady threw for 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns this past season for Tampa Bay. It’s not a case of the body failing his competitiveness.

Beloved in New England and beloved in Tampa Bay, Brady is one of only two men to win a Super Bowl quarterbacking two separate franchises. Additionally, he’s wreaked havoc on every team in the NFL — defeating every franchise at least once.

There isn’t much to say that hasn’t already been stated about Tom Brady. However, the best way to describe his contributions to the game is that the NFL will never be the same without him. He wasn’t the biggest, he wasn’t the strongest and he was never the most talented — but Tom Brady was the best throughout his 22 seasons in the league.