Tom Brady.Photo:Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty
Tom Bradyis ready for a new chapter.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion, 46, whoannounced his retirementfrom the NFL for a second time in February, spoke candidly about his decision to hang up his cleats and what the future holds on SiriusXM’sLet’s Go! With Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Grayon Monday.
“I’m always gonna love throwing that ball, Brady told co-hostJim Gray, noting he’d played the sport 32 years — “high school, college, and then obviously 20 years in New England.”
Though he hasn’t been playing professionally, he has picked up a football since leaving the sport thanks to 13-year-old son Benjamin Rein, whom he shares with ex-Gisele Bündchen(Brady is also dad to daughter Vivian Lake, 10, with Bündchen, and son John “Jack” Edward Thomas, 16, whom he shares with exBridget Moynahan).
“My son is gonna play football this year,Benny, so I’ve been throwing the ball to him in the backyard,” Brady said. “And he wants to be a tight end likeGronk, and he’s gonna be a little beast. He’s an amazing kid and he’s got a lot of talents. He’s a really talented musician and artist. And then he told me this year, ‘Dad, I’m playing football.’ And I was like, ‘What do you wanna play?’ And he was like, ‘Tight end. I wanna be like Gronk!’ So I actually texted Gronk and I’m like, ‘Yo, my boy wants to be like you!’ And he loved it.”
TheTampa Bay Buccaneersalum went on to say he was “out there in the backyard throwing around [the ball] last night."
“My daughter’s got me kicking the soccer ball,” he said, adding, “And [I’m] really enjoying this new experience. And there’s so much to life that is here to live. And I was very blessed to play for as long as I did, and I loved it.”
Tom Brady.Mark LoMoglio/AP/Shutterstock
Brady will be heading to the other side of the sport soon, joining the Fox Sports broadcasting team in 2024. “Now I get to see other guys do it, and I also get to see football from a different perspective,” he said. “I’ll be on Fox next year, so I have a chance to really sit back and watch and learn a different career.”
“You know, I used to watch it from the lens of a quarterback,” he continued. “Now I see it more from maybe broadcasting, but also as a fan, and then also still from a quarterback. So maybe a few different perspectives to learn, which will be a really fun thing.”
As far as his aspirations now, Brady said he’s focused on the “transitions into different things.”
“I mean, a lot of it’s a redirection into different areas of life,” he said on SiriusXM. “I would say the competitiveness. Nothing’s ever gonna be like running out in front of 70,000 people screaming, ’Let’s f—— go!’ And I mean, that chapter is unbelievable. And I’ve done it longer than anyone else, and I had so much fun.”
Tom Brady.Getty Images
Although the intensity would “not in the same way,” Brady said “I think there’s still a part of me that wants to do really positive, great things and bring people together, and to think about how we can always connect with people to bring the best out of them.”
And he’ll be back in New England on Saturday, returning to see many of his “great friends there.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories
“Your life kind of takes you in different directions,” he said, adding, “football brings out the best in all of our communities too. I mean, this sport can pull together groups of fans like no other. And I know everyone’s excited about having NFL football back just like I am.”
source: people.com
