A second comeback for the NFL's most accomplished quarterback of all-time was, at least, looked into by Tom Brady.
In an interview with CNBC this past week, Brady, who last played in 2022 and has since become a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, revealed that he explored the possibility of unretiring a second time but was rebuffed by the league when he broached the subject.
"I actually have inquired, and they don't like that idea very much," Brady told CNBC. "So I'm going to leave it at that. We explored a lot of different things, and I'm very happily retired. Let me just say that, too."
Brady and a partner acquired a 10% ownership stake of the Raiders on Oct. 15, 2024. Since then, the seven-time Super Bowl champion has aided the Raiders front office in making personnel and coaching decisions in what he described as a "strategic advisory role."
A comeback to the NFL would require Brady to divest his ownership stake in the Raiders, according to league rules.
"I'm a minority owner. So, when you're that, there's really no job description. I don't have really a daily role," Brady said. "You know, my phone call is always available to everybody who needs it. I want to see everyone succeed, be their best, bring a winning kind of a culture to Las Vegas -- to bring the Raiders back to glory. I'd love to be a part of it."
Brady has been around the game plenty since calling it a career. He signed a 10-year, $375 million contract with Fox Sports and has been in the booth as the network's lead analyst the past two seasons.
As recent as last weekend we also saw Brady perform on a flag football field as part of the Fanatics Flag Football Classic, and the 48-year-old threw an impressive touchdown strike to Stefon Diggs over 1,000 days after his last NFL game.
"I loved being out there playing in the flag game," Brady said. "I loved not getting hit. I've got a lot of really fun things I'm involved in.
"It's never going to get old throwing passes to incredible athletes on the football field. But if anything, that game reconfirmed to me that I'm very happy in my retirement."
Before last weekend's flag football event, Brady sang the same tune about being happily retired, but only after he added that he "would never say never" to possibly competing in the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, which will debut flag football as an Olympic sport. He added that the possibility of him becoming a U.S. Olympian was "unlikely."
