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People can't stop joking about what ended Tom Brady's short-lived retirement

The Holderness Family/Facebook, @jeffisrael25/Twitter

People keep joking about Tom Brady unretiring after being home for six weeks.

Tom Brady is, without question, the greatest quarterback to ever play American football. I've never rooted for the teams he's played for (Go Seahawks!) so it pains me to say it, but the guy truly is the G.O.A.T.

The man is 44 years old, has played in the NFL for 22 years and is the winningest player the game has ever known. So when he announced his retirement from professional football on February 1, it was truly momentous. The end of an era. A new beginning, not just for him but for football fans everywhere who either reveled in or grumbled about his consistent dominance in the sport.

The only thing Brady didn't do was go out on top—at least not in the immediate sense. The most fitting retirement for Tom Brady would be to win the Super Bowl one last time, then hang up his cleats. Instead, he staged one of his epic comebacks in the divisional round playoffs, leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from a 27-3 deficit to a 27-27 tie before ultimately losing in the last second of the game to a Los Angeles Rams field goal.

That's a tough loss in general, but especially as the last game of your career. Perhaps that's what compelled Brady to change his mind and unretire just 40 days after announcing his retirement.

These past two months I\u2019ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands. That time will come. But it\u2019s not now. I love my teammates, and I love my supportive family. They make it all possible. I\u2019m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa. Unfinished business LFGpic.twitter.com/U0yhRKVKVm
— Tom Brady (@Tom Brady) 1647213180

But according to the jokesters on social media, his comeback has more to do with the realities of full-time parenting than with tying up his loose competitive ends.

Brady and his wife, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, have two school-aged kids and Brady also shares custody of his teen son from his earlier relationship with model and actress Bridget Moynahan. Brady has mentioned in interviews that it's difficult to balance his professional life and his home life, though he tries hard to be a present, involved parent.

The guy clearly loves his family, but the fact that he changed his mind about retiring barely a month after being home full-time was too much for the internet to resist.

As soon as Brady announced his unretirement, the jokes about parenting being harder than football started flying.

Tom Brady had to do like 6 weeks of parenting and was like you know what I\u2019d like to be hit in the head for a living
— JEFF (@JEFF) 1647215199

Tom Brady spent 6 weeks being a full-time at-home dad and was like, \u201cOn second thought, I\u2019d rather have my 43yo body get slammed to the ground repeatedly by 300lb meta-humans instead.\u201d
— Doyin Richards - Fully Vaccinated (@Doyin Richards - Fully Vaccinated) 1647275032

Sounds like Tom Brady had to listen to his kids talk about the Minecraft world they built.
— Simon Holland (@Simon Holland) 1647227160

In fact, the Holderness Family made a spot-on parody video showing what that first day of retirement might have looked like at Tom and Gisele's house. While the world's best quarterback might be used to coordinating plays on the field, it's entirely possible he wasn't prepared for the level of multitasking and organization the homefront requires on a daily basis.

While it pokes lighthearted fun at Tom Brady, all parents will appreciate the all-too-real examples of the five-hour dance recital and the having to be two places at once depicted in this video. Parenting is a lot of work, emotionally and logistically.

How Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen's post-retirement conversation went, probably.

Surely, the ultimate competitor Tom Brady just wants another chance to win in the sport he's spent half of his life playing. But it is pretty funny to imagine the greatest quarterback of all time preferring to be pummeled by a 300 lb lineman over having to manage kids' schedules.

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I've watched every Patriots game since 1991. But I can't this Sunday.

I've watched or attended every New England Patriot's game since 1991. I won't be doing either this Sunday.

Image by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images.

Ever since I can remember, I've been a New England Patriots fan. For a long time, the Patriots were a very bad football team. They were the laughing stock of the league. I spent many a winter on cold metal benches angry at my brother for dragging me to see an awful performance every other Sunday.

All that changed though with the arrival of head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. Four Super Bowls and a few controversies later, the legend of the greatest coach-player duo is still growing on the gridiron.

Image by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images.

Bill Belichick is a genius on the football field. But something changed for me when he publicly endorsed the now president-elect.

On the eve of the election, Trump spoke at a rally in New Hampshire and read out loud a letter written by Belichick. In it, Belichick praised the candidate's perseverance and work ethic, and he enthusiastically, publicly supported Trump's candidacy.

Image by Scott Eisen/Getty Images.

Brady was also pulled into it. His wife, Gisele Bündchen, reportedly dispelled the myth that they had already voted for him.

This all shocked me to the core. Then when Trump won, it sparked a series of personal reflections like never before. After 350 games of unwavering support, I now needed to step away from my team.

It may seem like a small, silly protest and have you thinking, "It's just football," but the emotions felt by many, many groups are real and palpable.

I need time to reconcile the fact that Belichick publicly supported someone who has spouted so much hate. It's been terribly difficult trying to explain this to my friends.

I have a bunch of text "chat rooms" where my closest friends and I chew the fat on a myriad of subjects. To be clear, they're all wonderful humans and I'm lucky to have them as a support system.

After the election, some of them weren't as worried about what could happen to the freedoms of minorities, women, Muslims, and the LGBTQ community. While I admire that practical mentality, I was shocked. Then, I realized why I felt the way I did.

I'm the only person of color in this conversation. We never talked about it and we didn't address it.

It was hard to try to explain my palpable fear to them. It was difficult to express my emotional state after witnessing a campaign filled with divisive racism, sexism, homophobia, fear mongering, and the marginalization of all non-white people. I gently tried, but privately, I cried.

Sports are part of the fabric of who I am, but for now, I have to rip it off like velcro.

Sports are my escape. They're a way for me to remember my hometown. But right now, watching the Patriots isn't either of those things. I need to step away. This is not a condemnation of the team. This is not a condemnation of New England. I am proud of my city, and I love my friends.

As far as Bill Belichick and the Patriots go, however, I need them to understand supporting this kind of candidatehas questioned my allegiance to a team I've grown to love over the past 25 years.

Image by Jim Rogash/ Getty Images.

There are bigger things than the game.

We don't know if those statements and proposed policies of mass-deportation, profiling, wall building, rescinding basic human rights, and disregard for sexual assault are going to become normalized in America. I need time to process it all.

There is much more to worry about than a football game, so I'm going to step away, gain some clarity, and prepare myself for the next four years. And maybe, perhaps, the playoffs.

I hope to do this again. Photo by Shane Kennedy.

tom brady

People can't stop joking about what ended Tom Brady's short-lived retirement

As soon as Brady announced his unretirement, the jokes about parenting being harder than football started flying.

How Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen's post-retirement conversation went, probably.

I've watched every Patriots game since 1991. But I can't this Sunday.

I've watched or attended every New England Patriot's game since 1991. I won't be doing either this Sunday.

Bill Belichick is a genius on the football field. But something changed for me when he publicly endorsed the now president-elect.

I need time to reconcile the fact that Belichick publicly supported someone who has spouted so much hate. It's been terribly difficult trying to explain this to my friends.

I'm the only person of color in this conversation. We never talked about it and we didn't address it.

Sports are part of the fabric of who I am, but for now, I have to rip it off like velcro.

There are bigger things than the game.

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tom brady

As soon as Brady announced his unretirement, the jokes about parenting being harder than football started flying.

How Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen's post-retirement conversation went, probably.

​​I've watched or attended every New England Patriot's game since 1991. I won't be doing either this Sunday.

Bill Belichick is a genius on the football field. But something changed for me when he publicly endorsed the now president-elect.

I need time to reconcile the fact that Belichick publicly supported someone who has spouted so much hate. It's been terribly difficult trying to explain this to my friends.

I'm the only person of color in this conversation. We never talked about it and we didn't address it.

Sports are part of the fabric of who I am, but for now, I have to rip it off like velcro.

There are bigger things than the game.

I've watched or attended every New England Patriot's game since 1991. I won't be doing either this Sunday.