Here at the offices of the ShaqFu Radio Blog, there’s been more than a few tears over the announcement of the retirement of Tom Brady. We admit it – some of us in the office are big (BIG) Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans, and the stepping-down news hit us hard. Seems like the news took our man Shaq by surprise, too.
If you’ve been watching the Brady story, it’s been a bit of a strange (yet short) journey. Not long after the Bucs were eliminated from the NFL playoffs with a loss at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams, the rumors started to fly. Would Brady stay? Would he step down?
It didn’t help that there was a premature retirement announcement last week. A couple of ESPN reporters – who normally deliver very good insights and information from the NFL – announced Brady’s retirement. But that first announcement was quickly denied by Brady himself, saying he hadn’t made a decision yet.
Well, that decision was indeed made by Brady just a few days ago (as of this writing). Brady says he’s got different priorities these days, including his family, and a couple of different businesses, too.
As soon as Brady made his NFL retirement actually, really, truly official, the tributes came pouring in… well, not quite from everyone. Not sure if Shaq was being funny or serious, but he poked at Brady on his Instagram account, strongly suggesting TB12 had another season in him.
The former Los Angeles Lakers legend and multi-year NBA Champion dropped a great line on Brady’s Instagram page after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback announced his retirement in a somewhat lengthy statement.
“No man get your butt up and do one more year,” Shaq deadpanned in the comment section.
O’Neal was just speaking out loud what many other Buc and Brady fans expected to hear – that Tom would play one more season, perhaps hoping to go out on top. Brady is 44-years old now, and he’s talked openly about playing up to the age of 45, probably leaving the game when his play deteriorated. That certainly was not the case this season. Brady led the NFL in passing.
It’s going to be an interesting offseason for the Buccaneers. It’s pretty much a sure thing that a search for a new QB is already underway. The Bucs have a good prospect already in uniform, yet they may want to find a veteran ready to make a move.
As for Shaq’s comments, he was probably just kidding. In later online social posts, the big man sent his appreciation: “Love u bro absolute joy to watch.”
An NFL without Brady for the first time since 2000 will be difficult to get used to. We’ll see what the Bucs do to fill those G.O.A.T. shoes.