As Aaron Rodgers Weighs Retirement, Tom Brady Shares How He Decided to End Career

Tom Brady might know a thing or two about what Aaron Rodgers is going through right now. 

Shortly after the Pittsburgh Steelers' playoff loss to the Houston Texans on Monday night, Rodgers didn't make any commitments about his future, but did admit that he would ponder retirement this offseason. So, as Rodgers tries to figure out if he should call it a career or not, FOX Sports' Colin Cowherd asked Brady when he felt like it was time for him to hang up the cleats and call it a career.

"My last season was tough," Brady said. "I had a personal, family issue that was a challenge and it just took a lot out of me and my ability to continue to play. I had 23 years of it, so I didn’t feel like I was missing anything retiring. I had felt like this was time. I always had a goal of 45 — 45 years old, I wanted to spend time with my kids. I felt like, ‘OK, now it’s time for me to be at my kids’ games. They’ve been at enough of their dad’s games.’ 

"Aaron’s got his own decisions he’s got to make. He doesn’t have kids. He’s trying to navigate what he wants to do post-career. It’s hard to give up football, too. It’s something that we’re really good at. It’s something you love to do. You love being out there with your teammates."

Brady memorably announced his first retirement at the end of the 2021 season, but that only lasted just over a month as he declared he'd return to play for the 2022 season that March. Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made the playoffs that season, although it didn't look pretty. The Buccaneers went 8-9, and Brady didn't play up to his standard. While he threw for 4,694 yards, Brady's 6.4 yards per attempt was the second-lowest mark of his career. 

Brady's final season culminated with a decisive wild-card loss to the Dallas Cowboys, marking the end of the seven-time Super Bowl winner's playing career. As Brady had set such a high standard for himself during his career, he admitted that he felt the actual games began to wear on him late in his career.

"I told a friend the other day, when I got older, I almost enjoyed practice more than playing because playing, it was almost like it was a relief to win," Brady said. "Everyone was out there like, ‘What’s another win going to do for people?’ It’s never satisfying, even for me, sometimes winning and not winning like you’d expect."

Rodgers might not have had the same success Brady did in his career. However, he's pretty clearly one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in NFL history. Rodgers' four MVP wins are the second-most in the NFL, and he currently holds the league's all-time passer rating record.

Some of Rodgers' detractors might point to the fact that he only won one Super Bowl in his career, fewer than many of the other game's all-time great quarterbacks. But Brady wants the 42-year-old Rodgers to ponder if he's willing to go through a whole year of work again in order to even give himself a chance to win a title. 

"Football is like a marathon," Brady said. "The season, everyone loves to run the first four miles of a marathon and everyone loves to run the last two miles of a marathon. But it’s those middle 20 miles that are hard, because kind of the shine wears off after about a month. You’ve got to dig deep into your preparation, body work, treatments and because it’s such a long season, you’ve got to work really hard over the course of the offseason to kind of [calibrate] your body for what it takes to be an NFL player. 

"To me, it’s do you want to make the commitment year-round? If you don’t, well, then it’s never going to turn well when the season happens. If you want to be a great NFL player, you have to commit and be fully in. That’s the only way your team’s going to have a chance to win, especially when you’re the starting quarterback. Only Aaron can decide that for himself." 

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