Tom Brady spent his first season of retirement enjoying the time off while staying relatively close to football.
If you take passing comments incredibly seriously, he might get even closer to the game. Brady was asked during an appearance on the DeepCut with VicBlends podcast if he'd pick up the phone if a quarterback-needy NFL team called.
“I’m not opposed to it," Brady said, via NESN. "I don’t know if they’re gonna let me if I become an owner in an NFL team, but I don’t know if -- I don’t know, I’m always going to be in good shape, I’m always gonna be able to throw the ball, so to come in for a little bit like (Michael Jordan) coming back -- I don’t know if they’d let me -- but I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”
So, Brady still loves the game, would still like to play, but isn't going to push it. He won't close the door, either, because he's an ultimate competitor. But he has an outrageously lucrative broadcasting deal with FOX that kicks in this year, he's still holding out hope he can become a part owner of an NFL team, and judging by how many times he's appeared on your screen over the last year, the endorsement business is doing quite well for him, too.
Don't take this seriously. But also don't be surprised if people keep tossing his name out there in the months ahead as a wild-card option in the quarterback market -- especially once a prominent signal-caller inevitably goes down with an injury.