- Tom Brady finally retired from football in February at the age of 45
- But it appears the quarterback was about to join the Las Vegas Raiders
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Tom Brady was apparently ready to continue playing in the NFL with the Las Vegas Raiders at the age of 46, before events in his life off the field halted the sensational move.
According to the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast with Hondo Carpenter, the Raiders turned to Brady when they knew they would part ways with quarterback Derek Carr.
Carr announced on January 12 that he was leaving the Raiders and Brady announced his retirement on February 1, after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs on January 17.
Carpenter explained, “I’m not going to go into details. I can not do it. So if you choose not to believe this, that’s fine. The Raiders believed they got Tom Brady and had every reason to think so.
Tom Brady was reportedly ready to continue playing in the NFL this season with the Las Vegas Raiders
Brady, pictured with Raiders owner Mark Davis, retired in February at the age of 45
Brady was set to continue playing with the Raiders, but apparently ‘things happened in his life’
“I said (last season) you don’t throw away a Derek Carr for a Jimmy Garoppolo, and that wasn’t the plan. Period of time. Wasn’t the plan.
“Then a number of things happened in Tom Brady’s life that made playing quarterback for the Raiders not an option. That wasn’t the Raiders’ fault. I’ve seen some people say that Brady didn’t want to play for the Raiders. Not accurate.
“They scheduled Tom Brady. Go out and get a greenie. Develop him behind Brady and keep moving. So their third choice was Jimmy Garoppolo. I’m not going to answer no. 2 for a while. One day I’ll address who no. 2 laundry. I’m not going to answer no. 2 today.’
Carpenter did not specify whether Brady would have quit playing for the Raiders or retired after knowing he wouldn’t be moving to Vegas.
But he added, “I’m not going to beat up this organization for not getting Tom Brady, because I know there are things that happened behind the scenes that are absolutely not their fault.
‘I won’t go into why. I’m not going to share things behind the scenes that they have no control over.”
Brady has since been looking to acquire a minority stake in the Raiders, but the purchase is currently on hold.
Last year he infamously quit another season with the Bucs, in a campaign sidetracked by his divorce from Brazilian supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen.