Tom Brady has sensationally confirmed that he has again tried to unretire and get back into the NFL, only for the league to block him.
The 48-year-old, a seven-time Super Bowl winner, said his dream comeback was derailed by the NFL because he is also a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders.
‘I actually have inquired (about a comeback), and they don’t like that idea very much,’ Brady said in an interview with CNBC. ‘So I am going to leave it at that.
‘We explored a lot of different things, and I’m very happily retired. Let me just say that, too.’
It’s an extraordinary admission from Brady, though, given how often he has had to deny ongoing rumors that he is desperate to return to the game that he so clearly loves.
He didn’t clarify how recently tried to make it back – his stake in the Raiders was approved in October 2024, so it could techincally have been at any stage in the last 18 months.
Tom Brady has confirmed he looked into unretiring once again but the NFL denied him
Brady won the Super Bowl seven times in his career before retiring in 2023 at age 45
But his comments come just days after he rolled back the years in a high-profile flag football game with other NFL stars.
‘I loved being out there in the flag game. I loved not getting hit,’ Brady added. ‘I’ve got a lot of really fun things I’m involved in.
‘It’ll never get old throwing passes to incredible athletes. But I am happily retired.’
The timing of his confession is also striking given that the Raiders are believed to want a veteran quarterback to start the 2026 season.
They are widely expected to take Fernando Mendoza with the first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft in April, but the plan behind the scenes has been to start the year with a more experienced signal caller while Mendoza adjusts to the NFL.
Brady first quit the game in 2022 before dramatically reversing his decision and playing one more year for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It was a controversial move on a personal level, though. It was a decision that accelerated a breakdown in his marriage to Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen and the couple announced their divorce midway through the following season.
The Bucs lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Dallas Cowboys and Brady announced his retirement again a few weeks later.
Brady remains in great physical condition and he insists he could ‘kick a**’ in the NFL today
He has remained in top shape since stepping away from the game at 45 and has always insisted that he was physically able to return.
In December 2025, Brady said he would only need a few weeks to get back up to speed in the NFL.
He told Shaquille O’Neal: ‘I’d whoop a** right now. I could go out there and play. Give me a month, I could go play with anybody.’
While some fans might be disappointed that the NFL didn’t make an exception for Brady to return, they have already shifted the rulebook around to accomodate him in the game after his playing days.
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