In light of 44-year-old Philip Rivers coming out of retirement, the question was obvious: Does Tom Brady, at 48, believe he could still play at an NFL level?
The seven-time Super Bowl champion didn't hesitate when asked by Colin Cowherd on The Herd if he could lead multiple scoring drives in a system he knows.
"Yes, I certainly could," Brady said Thursday, via FOX Sports. "I think the answer for me would be yes. I'm not allowed to anymore because I'm a minority owner of the Raiders, so I can't unretire."
Brady had to underline the impossible nature of his situation -- with partial ownership negating the option to return -- otherwise he might be inundated with questions about why he doesn't take the field for his own squad, which is currently in QB purgatory.
There is little doubt from a mental or competitive argument that Brady could probably still sling it well. The G.O.A.T. retired in 2023, at the age of 45, after putting up his sixth consecutive season of 4,000-plus yards passing (4,694) -- only Dak Prescott is on pace to surpass that figure this season (4,756). He led the NFL in completions and attempts in back-to-back years before officially retiring. The real question is, after so much time off, would he be able to take repeated hits?
Walking away after the 2022 season was, of course, Brady's second retirement. The quarterback famously “retired” prior to that final campaign, then unretired 40 days later.
"Who retires and then unretires and then is ultimately going to retire again? Who does that? That's ridiculous for Philip to do that," Brady quipped.
Brady believes Rivers, four years his junior, can succeed because of his mental acumen.
"This game is about, for the quarterback, from the neck up," Brady said. "We used to have a saying at Michigan, 'The mental is to the physical as four is to one at the quarterback position.' That doesn't really go away. Do you still have the physical ability to still do it -- take the hits, make the throws, the drops, buy a little time in the pocket?
"If Philip has been practicing those things, then we're all going to see it on full display in Seattle on Sunday afternoon."
Rivers' Colts kick off against the Seahawks at 4:25 p.m. ET.
