EXCLUSIVE: "Shortest retirement ever" - Buccaneers legend Ronde Barber optimistic about Tom Brady's return for 2022 NFL season

Quarterback Tom Brady will be entering his third season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, after he initially called it a career this offseason. Buccaneers great Ronde Barber said he wasn’t that surprised to see the quarterback return for another season with the team.

In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, five-time All-Pro cornerback Ronde Barber said that the seven-time Super Bowl champion had the shortest retirement ever.

“Yeah, shortest retirement ever. I never thought he was really retired. I think it was a technical mistake by somebody controlling Twitter. I remember talking to him when we first got here, and he was going to play it three years.

"So, for him to have left after two would have shocked me. I don't know him well, but I know him well enough. I feel like he's a guy that has such a drive for perfection, but just a legacy that he doesn't want to go out having lost.”

Barber also stated that Brady's determination could be observed from afar while he was with the New England Patriots.

“You know, I joke with people, when he won his first Super Bowl here with us in Tampa. And I said he's going to come back for another year. If win or lose, he's going to come back another year to either win it or come back to justify the win back last year. We didn't win it... that's just the kind of guy he is. You could see that determination when he was in New England, watching it from afar.”

The former Tampa Bay cornerback concluded by saying that Brady had more to prove. As such, he was glad to see him return to the Buccaneers:

“Single handedly can put games on his back and win it for him and so obviously are skills declining? Probably.

"I think I would have been maybe even a little shocked if he would have walked away last year. I think he still had something to prove, and I'm glad he decided to come back and do it.”

Tom Brady's time with the Buccaneers

QB Tom Brady after winning Super Bowl LV

In two regular seasons with Tampa Bay, the 15-time Pro Bowler has thrown for 9,949 yards, 83 touchdowns, and 24 interceptions. As Barber mentioned in the interview, the quarterback led the league last season with 50 touchdown passes and 5,316 passing yards.

Brady led Tampa Bay to their second Super Bowl victory in the 2020 season.

We’ll see if the ageless signal-caller can lead the Buccaneers back to another Super Bowl in the upcoming season.

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