Tom Brady Says He Nearly Retired from Football at Age 27

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NFL quarterback Tom Brady came close to giving up on his dream of becoming the G.O.A.T.

On Wednesday, in an ad for his company TB12, the legendary athlete revealed that injuries nearly completely sacked his career in the league.

"When I was 27, I almost retired from the game of football, because of elbow pain," he said in the Twitter promo.

After other less-well-known athletes shared their testimonials for his products, Brady then added: "Now, I'm 45 years old and I'm still here."

He concluded, "No matter the age, no matter the obstacles, it's about how you feel, about what you do."

Now playing in his 23rd season in the NFL, it's clear Brady was able to move past the arm injury.

In 2020, he shared a bit of background as to how, while talking with actor Dax Shepard on his Armchair Expert podcast.

"I would work out and I would train, I would lift weights because everyone says 'lift weights' and 'condition,' " Brady said, referring specifically to bicep curls. "That's where you're gonna be a better athlete. And it got to a point where I couldn't throw the football because my elbow would hurt all of the time. And really what happened was there was these muscles in my forearm got really tight."

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Brady helped overcome the obstacle, he said, thanks to his trainer and TB12 business partner, Alex Guerrero, who worked with him to combat the tendonitis by performing manual tissue work that helped to elongate his muscles.

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In an interview on CBS Mornings pegged to the release of his The TB12 Method book in 2017, Brady spoke to then-host Norah O'Donnell about the importance of "pliability" in muscles, as well as maintaining a healthy diet.

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While Brady's highly regimented diet — which is sans nightshades like tomatoes and peppers, and coffee-free — may be unrivaled, come certain times of the year, like Thanksgiving, he lets go.

Last fall, he told Oprah Winfrey on his SiriusXM podcast Let's Go! with Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray that he eats whatever he wants on the holiday.

"What are you actually eating at the Thanksgiving table?" Winfrey, 68, asked him.

Brady laughed and replied, "Just like everyone else."

He added, "That's the one meal where I'm like, screw it, let's go for it. And we all get to enjoy it."