Tom Brady should..wait for it...retire???

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Since Monday, when the NFL handed down a 4 game suspension for Tom Brady and a fine and docked draft picks for the Patriots, the reaction has been predictable. Pats fans are standing behind their quarterback and their team, while the non-Pats fans brought out the old "he's a cheater" line. In those 2 sides, we've seen some different ways to get their respective points across, especially from the pro-Brady/Pats crowd. For instance, a couple of Pats fans staged a "sit-in," multiple hashtags on Twitter to show their support for Brady, and the latest: An article from Yahoo sports saying Tom Brady should retire if his suspension is not reduced at first.

YS:

Now it’s time for Brady to punish Goodell and the NFL by retiring from the game.

That’s right. Barring a severely-reduced suspension via appeal, Brady should ride off into the sunset and toward an early retirement. The most successful quarterback in league history should say in no uncertain terms that Goodell is the reason he’s leaving.

He can’t be suspended under Goodell’s arbitrary rules if he’s not playing any more, can he?

The article goes on to point out that this would make Roger Goodell look bad because he chased off one of the all-time greatest players through a bad ruling:

Quit and Brady leaves Goodell with the stain of chasing off one of the all-time greats through a foolish and ill-considered ruling. The drama is almost too much for any sports fan to consider. (Brady might not have many fans among the other 31 fanbases, but can you imagine if he took Goodell down? It’s the one nationwide popularity contest he wins in a landslide.)

Interesting take on the situation, but it would never happen. While Brady feels like he can still play, he's going to keep playing. He's way too driven to retire early, which has always been one of his best traits. Besides, I'd bet my life that the haters would view it as a temper tantrum because the NFL didn't give their golden boy what he wants. Yahoo points out that Brady has already accomplished a lot, but it's still damn near impossible to imagine Brady retiring while he still has a couple more decent years to chase titles.

“Brady is still in tremendous shape and still has plenty of great football to play.”

OK, that one holds a lot of merit. And as a football fan, it’ll hurt not to watch him chase titles any more. But as mentioned above, Brady has already accomplished a lot. Why continue a career in a league ruled by a man who just tainted your reputation and took $2 million out of your pocket over an issue he’s never taken seriously before this storyline was invented to fill an empty week before the Super Bowl?

Roger Goodell exercised his power.

Now it’s time for Tom Brady to exercise his.

Tom isn't going to retire any time soon. As much as I'd like to see Roger Goodell squirm, I think the best way to get back at him is winning Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara next year, and Brady is going to want to be a part of that. 

Thoughts on this? Leave a comment below.