Tom Brady Pushes Back on Speculation He Could Leave the NFL Mid-Season: 'No Retirement in My Future'

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Tom Brady says he has no plans to walk away from football (for a second time) before the end of the season, despite the speculation otherwise.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, 45, pushed back on that claim — which came from a former Bucs QB, Chris Simms, on Wednesday — during his mid-week press conference Thursday.

When asked about Simms' comments, Brady first went for a joke, telling reporters, "Well that's really why I'm here, I'm here to announce, finally, you guys have pushed me to the brink."

But he quickly cleared up the speculation, emphatically saying, "No."

"I love the sport, I love the teammates, and I want to go do a good job for this team like I always have," Brady said. "So, no retirement in my future."

Simms had brought up the idea that Brady would leave the sport mid-season during NBC's Pro Football Talk Live, saying that things going on in Brady's life outside of football — such as a potential divorce from his wife of 13 years, Gisele Bündchen — could compel him to retire from the NFL before the final game of the season.

Simms made the comments after he was asked whether Brady or Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers would be more likely to walk away before the season's end.

"Normally I'd feel like it's Rodgers that would be that guy. But because of this year and some of the off-the-field stuff that's hitting home and personal stuff with Brady, this is the one year I feel maybe it might be Brady," Simms said on the program. "It seems like, and I don't know this, that his wife is threatening divorce or going down that road by all due accounts of what you read."

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"I think Rodgers is usually the guy to be more renegade and be like 'screw this, I'm out of here.' But this is a weird year where we're seeing Brady do weird crap and having personal issues," he continued.

Host Mike Florio said he believed Brady could leave in the middle of the season, as well.

"I have thought all along there's a chance Brady checks out during the season and I still think that happens," he said.

As it stands, the Buccaneers are 3-3 over the first six games of the 2022-2023 season. Last year, the Buccaneers only lost four games throughout the entire regular season.

Simms' comments come after former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said that he believes Brady doesn't appear to be having fun while on the field.

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"It didn't look like he wanted to be out there," said Roethlisberger on his "Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger" podcast. "Maybe it was the pressure, and he was getting hit and whatever was going on. At one point, I looked down there and said, 'There's no way he's enjoying this. No way.' It just didn't look fun for him. It just looked like a different Tom."

Roethlisberger was referring Sunday's game where Brady was filmed yelling at his offensive line. Just days before, Brady attended Patriots' owner Robert Kraft's wedding, a move that drew criticism.

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Brady previously retired from the NFL earlier this year but returned to the Buccaneers just 40 days later.

The decision to un-retire has caused a rift between him and Bündchen, sources previously told PEOPLE. Both Brady and Bündchen have recently hired divorce lawyers.