Cover-26: Tom Brady Once Again Graces the Cover of Sports Illustrated for Commemorative Retirement Issue

Fans have been given a choice of covers for the special edition of the magazine honoring Brady’s career, one from his time with the New England Patriots uniform, the other as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It isn’t every day that the greatest player in the game calls it a career. However, that was the case on Tuesday when Tom Brady announced his retirement from the NFL after 22 seasons. As a result, he is being honored by Sports Illustrated as their cover athlete. It will mark the 26th time that Brady has graced the cover of the legendary magazine.

Sports Illustrated has published the special edition with two covers commemorating Brady’s retirement: one featuring his time with the New New England Patriots; the other shows him as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Here is a first glance at SI’s covers honoring Brady:

Tom Brady fans, get your SI Retirement Commemorative issue here 🐐 https://t.co/ZrVP1DYly4 pic.twitter.com/r0kIJgZW6g

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) February 2, 2022

Brady officially announced his retirement from the NFL on Tuesday, capping a two-plus decade long career considered by many to be the greatest ever enjoyed by a football player.

The 44-year-old penned an over 900-word announcement of his decision, via social media. In his statement, Brady thanked the Buccaneers, and his family and support staff for what he called a ‘thrilling ride,” while describing himself as ‘the luckiest person in the world.” He has since posted a brief video featuring various highlights of his Patriots career, while responding via social media to several congratulatory messages from his former Patriots teammates, his former head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots team owner Robert Kraft.

Brady entered the NFL as the 199th overall selection by the Patriots in the 2000 NFL Draft. The Michigan product ascended to the starting position in his second year with the team, in the aftermath of a devastating injury to then-starter Drew Bledsoe. In his first year as a starter, Brady led the Patriots to their first ever championship. He would go on to win five additional titles in New England, with his last coming as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.

Brady’s place at the top of the pantheon of NFL greats has been firmly established. He finishes his illustrious career with regular season totals of 11,317 pass attempts for 7,263 completions (64.2%), 84,520 passing yards, 624 touchdowns and 203 interceptions. And that’s just the regular season. Brady has also dominated the postseason, where he has compiled a record of 35-12, as well as a quarterback rating of 90.4. He completed 62.8% of his postseason passes for 13,049 yards, 86 passing touchdowns and 39 interceptions. Brady has won seven of the ten Super Bowls in which he has played, earning the big game’s MVP five times.

Through it all, Brady’s image has become a staple on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

From his first Super Bowl championship through Tuesday’s announcement, Brady has graced the cover of Sports Illustrated 25 times. When viewed in succession, the covers tell a visual story of Brady's singular run of excellence that may never be matched again.

In three separate calendar years, Brady appeared on the cover three times: 2004, '05 and '17. He's shared the cover with Peyton Manning twice, and was also featured in the style of a courtroom sketch. Brady was 24 when he first appeared on the cover (April 15, 2002), and he most recently appeared in the December 2021 issue as the most recent winner of SI's Sportsperson of the Year Award.

For a comprehensive and nostalgic look at Brady’s career, as chronicled through SI covers, take a look at this slideshow, compiled by Sports Illustrated.

Get your copy of SI’s Tom Brady Retirement Commemorative Issue, available now.