This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Charles Curtis is filling in for Andy Nesbitt.
Aaron Rodgers staying or going? Russell Wilson getting traded?
Nope. Those aren’t compelling.
Instead, I have strapped on my tin foil hat and leaned all the way into my favorite NFL offseason storyline: Is Tom Brady really retired?
I’ve already compiled a list of people like Gronk and Julian Edelman who think Brady could unretire someday. That was all fun.
But in the last couple of days, there’s this to add to his “never say never” quote from right after his retirement: He told Fred Couples he was looking forward to family time … “and then we’ll figure out where we go from there.”
He even joked about the quote on Twitter, and all I can think of is: Joking deflects from the truth!!
Have you noticed Brady hasn’t truly closed the door here? Heck, even Peter King said he won’t be surprised if Brady comes back “in the next year or two.”
But I think given the possible quarterback carousel we’re about to see, I wonder if Brady starts thinking about it sooner than that. I know, I know — Bucs coach Bruce Arians said he wouldn’t let Brady return with another team, which could create quite a kerfuffle.
But I’m buying in. I’ve got my popcorn ready, and I can’t wait to read more tea leaves here.
Quick hits: NFL combine madness … Winning Time is almost here! … NHL midseason awards … and more.
— It was a wild night of NFL combine drills, with Tyquan Thornton nearly breaking John Ross’s 40-yard dash time. Overall, the receivers were historically fast and there were some big winners from the night that Christian D’Andrea broke down.
— Winning Time, the HBO Lakers series, is about to premiere, so here’s the cast compared to their real-life counterparts.
— Mary Clarke handed out some midseason NHL awards and one Rangers player won TWO of them.
— Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky’s latest NBA big board before men’s March Madness begins.
