Fox NFL analyst Tom Brady knows a thing or two about retirement decisions and how difficult they can be.
Brady famously retired, and then un-retired early in 2022. He played one final season with the Buccaneers before hanging it up for good.
So when Brady was asked by Colin Cowherd what could go into Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’s decision, the seven-time Super Bowl champion relayed that it will be a number of factors, and ultimately a feeling that it's time.
"My last season was tough. I was going through—I had a lot of personal ... a family issue, and it was a challenge and it was very ... it just took a lot out of me in terms of my ability to continue to play," Brady said. "... I had 23 years of it. I didn't feel like I was missing anything retiring. ... I wanted to spend time with my kids. I felt like, O.K. it was time for me to be at all my kids' games. They'd been to enough of their dad’s games. Aaron’s got his own decisions he's gotta make. He doesn't have kids. He’s trying to navigate what he wants to do post-career. It’s hard to give up football too. It's something we're really good at. It's something you love to do.” Brady added.
⬇️ @TomBrady weighed in on a potential Aaron Rodgers retirement on @TheHerd pic.twitter.com/eISKJtqB93
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 15, 2026
But when it comes down to it, there’s one key question that Rodgers will need to ask himself, according to Brady.
"To me, it's [a question of], Do you want to make this commitment year round? Because if you don’t, well then it’s never going to turn out well when the season happens. In order to be a great NFL player, you’ve gotta commit and be fully in and that’s the only way your team is going to have a chance to win ... especially when you're a starting quarterback. And only Aaron can decide that for himself.”
Rodgers is a free agent this offseason, and will have to decide whether he wants to put his body through another season of being an NFL quarterback. With Mike Tomlin out in Pittsburgh, it’s likely that if Rodgers returns, it will be with a new team.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tom Brady Discusses What Will Go Into Aaron Rodgers’s Potential Retirement Decision.
