What they're saying about Tom Brady's legacy following retirement announcement

Former Michigan quarterback and NFL legend Tom Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion, announced his retirement from the game of football this week.

Here is a look around the internet at what they’re saying following Brady’s announcement.

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Seth Wickersham, ESPN.com: The limitless life of Tom Brady

“If you keep knocking at the door, you’re going to win at some point,” Tom Brady once told me. “You’re going to get that ball that goes your way. You’re going to get a call that maybe you wouldn’t have gotten before. You’re going to make a play that wasn’t made before. So you know, I’m glad we keep knocking at the door.”

Did all of that knocking make him the greatest quarterback ever? Most people think so, including Belichick. But that’s not really the point. Brady has become something else: his own unique force. For as long as he has been doing this, he has been the answer to every question. Who else would you rather have with the ball in his hands — on a mundane play, on a critical play, on third down or after he had thrown an interception or with the division on the line, with the conference championship on the line, with the Super Bowl on the line? For a while, it was Johnny Unitas. Then Joe Montana. Then John Elway. Then, nobody … until 2001. Since then, Tom Brady has taken that gifted arm and willed himself into many ideas and notions, but most of all, he has managed to deliver a clinical certainty, as singular as seven Super Bowls. That’s what his opponents had to contend with.

It wasn’t just his brilliance as a player; it was that he was a force that not only won games but seemed to cause opponents to lose them. Of all the absences now that he is expected to be gone, that will be the biggest. There is no certainty like him anymore.

Jeff Howe, The Athletic: Howe: There’s been no greater winner than Tom Brady — there might never be

It had been surmised Tom Brady wouldn’t go out on a loss. He couldn’t retire following anything but a confetti shower on the Super Bowl stage. Such a thought dramatically minimizes the immense challenge of winning a Super Bowl but also reveals just how routine Brady made it look.

Brady hasn’t needed to prove anything to anybody for years. But he did need to prove to himself that the chase was worth it, that the Super Bowl countdowns served their purpose, that he could conquer [Michael] Jordan.

Now, it’s time to find out who’s taller. There’s a new standard to set.

Jason La Canfora, CBS Sports: Tom Brady’s biggest opponent during his NFL career was all-time greatness, and he once again came out on top

To have produced one of his best seasons at age 44, and to have led a 24-point comeback in his final playoff game, is profound and perfect. It was a rare postseason setback for him, but, well, we know the line about Father Time’s success rate: he’s undefeated. Yet even now he must feel cheated by Brady, undone by his longevity and unparalleled productivity.

Brady goes out on his terms, at the top of his game, with nothing to regret. No offseason surgeries scheduled. No major injuries. His final moments on a field are ones he can be fully at peace with. If it was simply about trying to go out a champion, he would have retired a year ago. He pushed the limits, yet again, and did what no one else could have fathomed doing, and it’s unfair to say he came up short having produced a sublime and ridiculous second-half comeback against a team that might just go on to win the Lombardi themselves.

It was still vintage Brady. Somehow. He went into this postseason knowing that it was almost assuredly his last. It was The Last Dance, minus the fanfare and rhetoric and pageantry. There would be no victory tour. No individual celebration. Brady kept his vow largely a secret, though his most in-tune teammates could see it coming from what he said and left unsaid. From how he carried himself.

Bill Pennington, The New York Times: Tom Brady’s Impact Was Best Measured in Goose Bumps

Brady won seven Super Bowls and appeared in 10, but even his defeats in the N.F.L.’s season-ending showcase became highly notable, especially when his Patriots twice lost to the Giants. Eli Manning, the Giants quarterback, will likely be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the next decade principally because he twice led the Giants to Super Bowl upsets of Brady’s Patriots.

“Brady’s legacy is that he just played quarterback better than anyone else and made what I think is the toughest position in sports almost look easy,” said Ernie Accorsi, who was the general manager of three N.F.L. franchises — including the Giants — in a 36-year career. “You watch him play, and even his quarterback sneaks are better than anybody else’s. It’s ridiculous.”

Brady was never known for his physical attributes, since he was not fleet of foot and did not have the strongest throwing arm. Accorsi instead drew attention to Brady’s ability to appraise and dissect opponents and quoted Brady’s last coach, Tampa Bay’s Bruce Arians, who said: “Once Tom figures you out, you’re in trouble.”

Mike Tannenbaum, a top N.F.L. front office executive from 2000 to 2018, said that Brady has no equivalent.

“He’s the best that ever played football at any position,” said Tannenbaum, who spent seven seasons with the Jets and faced Brady twice a year. “He was competitive, he made the people around him better, he was consistent, he was durable.

Greg Auman, The Athletic: ‘We’re going to have continued success’: Bucs GM Jason Licht will miss Tom Brady, but has confidence in his team

When Tom Brady arrived two years ago, the Bucs hadn’t been to the playoffs in 13 seasons, and he changed the culture of the franchise in winning a Super Bowl in his first season, then winning the team’s first division title since 2007 this season.

“The leadership goes a long way, and so does the cohesiveness of the locker room,” [Buccaneers general manager Jason] Licht said. “This team, this locker room, is as tight as I’ve ever seen one. I think that was one of the major keys, in addition to having Tom Brady and Bruce Arians as our head coach, to use winning. I think that will continue. We’re losing a legend in Tom, and no one wants to lose a legend, but the lessons he’s provided for these guys with his actions and his leadership … are going to let our team continue to build on that. We’re going to have continued success. I’m confident in that.”

Mike Reiss, ESPN.com: Open letter to Tom Brady: Thank you for taking us on a magical ride

Dear Tom,

Thank you. These were the first words that came to mind.

They aren’t too profound. But when thinking about what covers the bases for all in the NFL community — fans, reporters, rivals and the like — it seems to do it in the clearest, most concise and compelling manner.

For those who followed you from the initial days with the New England Patriots as a longshot sixth-round draft choice — when your agent told you it might be smarter for pick No. 199 to rent than buy — thank you for taking us all on a magical, memorable 20-year ride. Many feel a connection to you because of that.

Those who connected with the greatness the past two years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers surely feel similarly. You helped restore the franchise, which hadn’t been to the playoffs since 2007, to relevance and greatness once again.

And for those who view you a little differently, the “thank you” still applies. They’re no doubt thankful you plan to call it a career. When you win as much as you did, it didn’t always make you the most likable superstar.