Tom Brady Retires After 23 NFL Seasons: Sports Illustrated’s Complete Coverage

Our look back at the quarterback’s historic career, including reaction and analysis from his retirement announcement.

Legendary quarterback Tom Brady has announced his retirement after 23 seasons in the NFL, a year to the day after last year’s short-lived decision to leave the game.

“I’m retiring. For good,” he said in a video posted to his social media accounts. “I know the process was a pretty big deal last time, so when I woke up this morning I figured I’d just press record and let you guys know first,”

The 45-year-old leaves the NFL as arguably the greatest player of all time, winning seven Super Bowls between the Patriots and Buccaneers in a career that spanned from 2000 to ’22. His most recent title came in Super Bowl LV, at the end of his first year with the Buccaneers.

Here is a look at Sports Illustrated’s coverage of Brady’s career and retirement announcement:

Feb. 1, 2023: Tom Brady announces retirement (again)

Brady made the announcement via his social media accounts, saying he was retiring from the NFL, “for good.”

News and reaction from Wednesday, as the 45-year-old ended days’ worth of speculation around his playing status since the Buccaneers were eliminated from the NFL playoffs:

SI Vault: Some of our top stories from Brady’s career:

SI Cover Stories: Brady’s Super Bowl victories:

Tom Brady: The Sports Illustrated Covers

April 15, 2002

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Brian Lanker/Sports Illustrated

February 9, 2004

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John W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated

September 6, 2004

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Bob Rosato/Sports Illustrated

October 18, 2004

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Damian Strohmeyer/Sports Illustrated

February 7, 2005

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Bob Rosato/Sports Illustrated

November 7, 2005

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Bob Rosato/Sports Illustrated & Peter Read Miller/Sports Illustrated

December 12, 2005

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Lynn Johnson/Sports Illustrated

October 22, 2007

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John Biever/Sports Illustrated

February 4, 2008

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Bob Rosato/Sports Illustrated & John Iacono/Sports Illustrated

September 1, 2008

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Bob Rosato/Sports Illustrated

June 1, 2009

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Peter Read Miller/Sports Illustrated

September 20, 2010

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Damian Strohmeyer/Sports Illustrated

January 24, 2011

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David Bergman/Sports Illustrated

January 9, 2012

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Damian Strohmeyer/Sports Illustrated

January 30, 2012

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Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated

February 9, 2015

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Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated

September 14, 2015

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William J. Hennessy Jr./CourtroomArt.com

January 25, 2016

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John Mersits/CSM & Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

February 1, 2016

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Donald Miralle/Sports Illustrated

January 23, 2017

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Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

January 30, 2017

2017 0130 SI cover Tom Brady Matt Ryan
Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated & Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

September 4, 2017

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January 29, 2018

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Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

February 11, 2019

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Rob Tringali/Sports Illustrated

December 2021

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Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated

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