Brady’s Goal? To Play Until He’s 41

There apparently will be no yearly game of will-he-or-won’t-he? No annual retirements and unretirements. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has set the expiration date on his career. Brady tells Peter King of Sports Illustrated that he plans to play until he’s 41. And possibly longer. "[I]f I get to that point and still feel good, I’ll keep playing,” Brady said. “I mean, what the hell else am I going to do? I don’t like anything else. . . . People say, ‘What will you do if you don’t play football?’ Why would I even think of doing anything else? What would I do instead of run out in front of 80,000 people and command 52 guys and be around guys I consider brothers and be one of the real gladiators? Why would I ever want to do anything else? It’s so hard to think of anything that would match what I do: Fly to the moon? Jump out of planes? Bungee-jump off cliffs? None of that sh-t matters to me. I want to play this game I love, be with my wife and son, and enjoy life.” (Wow. We’d have that quote put at the bottom of a poster, but we’d either need a magnifying glass to read it or a really big-ass poster.) With Brady due to turn 32 in August, that means he’s get ten more years of football left in him. Then again, the spirit might be willing. But the flesh might be weak. (Or, as the case may be, infected with staph.) Regardless of what happens from 2010 though 2018, Brady’s status for 2009 is looking better and better. He participated in practice for the first time since suffering a torn ACL during a Week One win over the Chiefs.