Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are in a similar situation this offseason as both quarterbacks seem to contemplate retirement from the NFL.
The Buccaneers quarterback already had a taste of retirement last year when he announced he would be leaving the league, only to come out of retirement a little over a month later. The seven-time Super Bowl champion hasn’t given a definitive answer for his future in the league after this season.
Even though Brady hasn’t discussed his retirement plans in detail, he spoke about the Packers quarterback’s potential decision on this week’s episode of his Let’s Go! podcast. Brady spoke with someone who has experience in this topic, Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, who offered his perspective on Rodgers’s situation.
“What [Rodgers] is contemplating is a really difficult thing, and people have no idea—having been there and felt that and have to deal with it,” Young said. “I always tell people, ‘The next day you’re at the bottom of a cliff in a broken sack of bones. And then you gotta stand up and start doing something different. But it’s never going to be the same. It’ll never be as all-encompassing, every bit of yourself poured out every week. There’s nothing like it. And that’s why Aaron is sitting in that spot, looking over the cliff going, ‘I don’t want to fall down there. I don’t want to go there. I don’t.’ And that’s really [how I] viscerally feel him today.”
Since Brady has made this decision before, he could relate to Young’s comments.
“Steve brings out the perfect point,” Brady said. “Those are absolutely legitimate feelings and emotions. And I think the most important thing is the day after the season, and I made this mistake, is not to decide the future.”
While Rodgers hasn’t given any insight into what his offseason decision will be, fans have already begun to speculate that his NFL career may be over.
After the Packers’ 20–16 loss to the Lions on Sunday, which ended Green Bay’s season, Rodgers declined to swap jerseys with Detroit rookie Jameson Williams, instead saying “I’m going to hold onto this one.” Rodgers didn’t help his case when dodging a question about this moment in his post-game press conference.
