Tom Brady is back.
After announcing his retirement from football just six weeks ago, Brady announced his un-retirement on Sunday night via a tweet.
—Tom Brady (@TomBrady) March 13, 2022
For weeks, rumors had swirled of Brady's potential unretirement. Despite Brady's own announcement, no one in-the-know really seemed to believe that Brady was done for good.
Over the weekend, things came to a head as Brady attended an English Premier League match between Manchester United and Tottenham.
On Sunday afternoon, Brady posted a video from after the match speaking with Cristiano Ronaldo on the field. Ronaldo asked Brady, "You're finished right?"
Brady smiled, and certainly didn't say no.
—NFL Network (@nflnetwork) March 13, 2022
Hours later, Brady was back on Twitter, announcing his return to the NFL.
The most surprising part of Brady's return might not be the return itself, but rather that he is returning to Tampa. Many of the reports surrounding Brady's potential un-retirement in the weeks leading up to his announcement hinted that Brady wanted to play elsewhere in 2022.
The thinking was that in Brady's absence, the Buccaneers would have to move forward and make other plans at quarterback. Once they did, Brady could say he's ready to come back, but given Tampa had already moved on, say he's ready to play elsewhere, potentially in San Francisco or at any other team with a roster that is ready for a star quarterback to lead them to a Super Bowl.
Instead, Brady is apparently back for another year in Tampa Bay.
Just two weeks ago, Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht joked "we always leave the light on for a guy like Tom Brady."
Good thing they did.
