TAMPA, Fla. — Bucs quarterback Tom Brady turns 43 in August, but he told radio host Howard Stern that he doesn't think about his age, or if moving on from the Patriots will affect his legacy.
"I never cared about legacy," Brady said Wednesday morning. "I could give a [expletive] about that. Never once when I was in high school I said, 'Man, I can’t wait for what my football legacy looks like.'"
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The future hall-of-famer said he knew before the 2019 season that he would become a free agent for the first time in his career, and he knew the decision to leave would be his.
"Why would I choose a different place? It’s because it was just time," Brady explained. "I accomplished everything I could in two decades with an incredible organization, an incredible group of people. That will never change."
Brady, who knew the late Kobe Bryant, said Bryant's untimely death taught him not to sacrifice the present for the future.
"You don’t tell a musician to stop singing at age 42. You don’t tell a great painter stop painting at 42. Now if you want to stop, stop," Brady said. "I feel like I can still play doesn’t mean I should just stop playing because that’s what everyone’s telling me to do."
Brady said he made a list of about 20 things he was looking for in free agency.
He said that list included playing for a great coach, playing in warm weather for the first time in his career and being close to his oldest son Jack, who lives in New York.
