"There's always next year" - NFL teases Tom Brady's return for 2022 NFL season

The NFL's Twitter account has teased Tom Brady's potential return to football in 2022. The seven-time Super Bowl champion posted a picture of his calendar from his phone with a reminder that the Super Bowl was being played.

He captioned the post with "sh*t," seemingly in reference to the annoying fact that he and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not playing in the NFL's penultimate game.

The NFL Twitter account admin thought it would cause quite the stir by posting a response to Brady's picture, and the caption suited it perfectly.

"There's always next year."

Brady teased potential return for 2022

Brady announced his retirement from the NFL a couple of weeks ago, ending his storied 22-year career. The 44-year-old won just about every accolade possible and holds most of the quarterback records for good measure.

Many did not think the day would ever come that the seven-time Super Bowl champion would retire. After the NFC and AFC Championship games, he did just that.

What has caused a big reaction were his comments on the Let's Go Podcast with Jim Gray, a talk show that Brady featured on every Monday during the season.

His quotes regarding his retirement being official and the potential of a return didn't outright deny a potential return. This has fans thinking he may return in 2022.

"You know, I'm just going to take things as they come. I think that's the best way to put it and I don't think anything -- you know, you never say never."

"I know that I'm very -- I feel very good about my decision," he said. "I don't know how I'll feel six months from now, and if that will change, it most likely won't. But I try to make the best possible decision I can in the moment, which I did this last week."

This sent the media landscape into overdrive, thinking he may not be entirely done with football. He did state that his decision will likely not change as he gets to spend some much-needed family time with his wife and children.

However, the door has been left open, even if it is ever so slightly.

There would be no logical reason for him to return to the NFL as he has done everything in the game.

His competitive itch will be hard to scratch off the field, though. Just what exactly the seven-time Super Bowl winner does remains to be seen, but he is not counting out returning in 2022.