An educated personal take from the blog of Ryan Rickard as of February 2020.
The biggest name in the NFL, Tom Brady, is no stranger to controversy and in this new trend many fans think he will leave his historically successful New England Patriots.
With the New England Patriots falling short in the playoffs of the 2019-2020 NFL season and Tom Brady’s player contract coming to end, many fans have speculated that the elder quarterback will leave his all-time team for new direction next season. The Patriots ended the 2019 – 2020 regular season with a 12-4 record only to lose in Wild Card Week to the 9-7 Tennessee Titans. This upset left many Patriots fans disappointed and launched what seems like endless debate between all sorts of NFL fans as to where the free-agent Brady will end up next year or if he will just retire.
Having heard of these rumors, Tom Brady secretly formed a partnership with the popular television streaming service, Hulu, to make light of the situation and give fans a bit of insight on the quarterback’s future in an ad for the 2019-2020 NFL Superbowl. The TV ad entitled “Tom Brady’s Big Announcement” was called “cryptic” by many fans and sports journalists as one black and white photograph was released online, via Tom Brady’s Twitter, days before the big game with no context. This early release was a marketing success as many fans believed what was only going to be a Hulu commercial, to be a retirement announcement. The final product was simply a clever ad in which Brady explained the benefits and workings of the Hulu streaming service (no different than any other athlete endorsement) and ended by telling his fans and listeners around the world, “I’m not going anywhere”. According to 24/7sports.com Hulu paid $7.5million for the 30 second ad that reached millions of people worldwide.
Following the release of this commercial the question now remains: if Tom Brady is not going to retire, is he going to resign a new contract with the New England Patriots? Or is Tom Brady going to part ways with his all-time home and enter new waters?
Many established journalists, news outlets, and NFL players have now joined in on the conversation giving their opinions and thoughts as to where they think Brady will go or should go. According to Adam Schefter, ESPN’s @JeffDarlington on @GetUpESPN shared, “I’m now at the point where I would be stunned if Tom Brady went back to New England.”
USA Today sat down with Kurt Warner, an NFL Hall of Fame athlete, to discuss what he thought would happen with the quarterback. "Just from that standpoint alone, I probably look at a team like the Titans, and I say to myself, 'Well, they were right there last year, and they've got some pieces we can build from.' That's probably, in my mind, the best situation of those three that I'm hearing about," Warner told USA Today.
The Guardian.com has also been given both criticism and praise for its in-depth article written to explain four more arguments to where Brady could end up. Teams included on The Guardian’s list are the New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Chargers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The website states that they understand a few of these teams are probably not as plausible as others. According to The Guardian.com Brady is most likely to stay where he is in New England or travel to Los Angeles. LA is an up and coming team with plenty of talent and a new stadium unveiling in the 2020-2021 season.
In the end only time will tell where Tom Brady will end up. With his long New England history of 20 years, it may be most likely that the 42-year-old will re-sign with his original team and stay around a bit longer. With the help of coach Bill Belichick, Brady has led the Patriots to six super bowl titles in nine appearances. He has also been a super bowl MVP four times, a league MVP three times, and has been voted into 14 pro bowls. Along with many other career highlights and awards Tom Brady proves to be one of the most valuable players of all time going into another post-season of free agency.
References Used in this Blog Post
Chavez, C. (2020, February 3). Tom Brady's Cryptic Tweet Was For Hulu Super Bowl Ad.
Connolly, O. (2020, January 8). Tom Brady's next move: the Patriots, retirement or a new life in California? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jan/08/tom-brady-future-new-team-new-england-patriots-nfl
Crawford, B. (2020, February 3). Tom Brady talks Hulu Super Bowl ad, Patriots future.
Retrieved from
Davis, N. (2020, February 27). Kurt Warner to Tom Brady: If you leave Patriots, join Titans instead of AFC West team. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/patriots/2020/02/27/kurt-warner-tom-brady-titans-chiefs-patrick-mahomes/4895625002/sport,
Guardian. (2020, February 27). Tom Brady will look at new teams in free agency, according to reports. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/feb/27/tom-brady-nfl-free-agency-new-england-patriots
Sutton, K. M. (2020, February 3). Tom Brady Spikes Retirement Rumors in Hulu Super Bowl
Ad. Retrieved from https://www.adweek.com/tv-video/tom-brady-vows-im-not-going-anywhere-in-hulu-super-bowl-ad/
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