After Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered another concussion—his third in his relatively short NFL career—against the Buffalo Bills on September 12, many football fans and former players are calling for him to retire. This means there’s an open spot on the Miami offense ripe for a veteran to step in. Tom Brady, perhaps?
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Tagovailoa had a scary collision with the Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin during the Thursday night game, with his arms moving in a way that is consistent with head trauma. “He was in good spirits,” Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters after the game. “My thought was concern. I was just worried about my guy. It’s not something that you ever want to be a part of, you hope not to.”
“It’s so sad, guy just got paid,” Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez said during Prime’s post-show. “It was great to be Tua, and it is great to be Tua. However I’m looking at these concussions,” Gonzalez continued, “if I’m him, at this point, I’m seriously considering retiring from football. If that was my son, I would be like, ‘It might be time.’ This stuff is not what you want to play around with.”
If that’s the case, the Dolphins will likely be looking for a benched veteran to take his place.
So is Tom Brady going to the Miami Dolphins?
Every time a star QB encounters an injury, the rumor mill starts churning about the possibility of Brady coming out of retirement. “Tom Brady to the Miami Dolphins… heard it here first Watch,” former Pittsburgh QB Devlin Hodges tweeted. “Dolphins should make that phone call to Tom Brady,” said another.
It’s pretty unlikely, though, for a few reasons. First, the man’s 47. He’s only just kicked off his commentary job at FOX Sports—a 10-year contract worth $375 million. Lastly, Brady is currently in the process of securing a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, which effectively rules out any potential return as a player. The NFL regulations prohibit players from holding ownership stakes while still active.
Famously, Brady retired and unretired less than 40 days later in 2023. On February 1, 2023, he announced he was retiring “for good” in a video, but admitted it’s not the first time his fans have heard him say the word.
Tearfully, he said: “I know the process was a pretty big deal last time, so when I woke up this morning I figured I’d just press record, and let you guys know first,” Tom filmed his retirement speech on a beach. “It won’t be long-winded, you only get one super-emotional retirement essay and I used mine up last year, so. I…really thank you, guys, so much to every single one of you, for supporting me, my family, my friends, teammates, my competitors. I could go on forever. There’s too many. Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream. I wouldn’t change a thing. Love you all.”
But in April 2024, he seemed like he’d changed his mind. “I’m not opposed to it,” he told the Deep Cut podcast, per CBS Chicago. “I don’t know if they are going to let me if I become an owner of an NFL team. I’m always going to be in good shape. I’ll always be able to throw the ball. So, to come in for a little bit, like MJ [Michael Jordan] coming back, I don’t know if they would let me. But I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”
