Patriots News: Tom Brady Reiterates Hope Of Competing Until 45

Tom Brady reiterated his hope of competing in the NFL until he was 45 years of age in a recently posted epilogue of the "Tom vs. Time" docuseries on Wednesday.

There was speculation the New England Patriots quarterback was pondering retirement, especially after his side's defeat in the Super Bowl earlier this year against the Philadelphia Eagles.

It was then heightened when Brady, who turned 41 last month, himself said in June retirement was something he thought about a lot and it was coming sooner rather than later. He did, however, add he would play a few more years if he still loved the "training and preparation."

He also later commented on an ESPN post on Instagram, "cuarenta y cinco" — Spanish for 45.

And in the epilogue, he once again spoke of how he aims to play until that age, even if it will be a challenge for him.

"I would love to play five more years. I'd love to play 41, 42, 43, 44, 45," he said. "It will be a challenge for me, I don't think it's going to be easy. I think it's going to be very hard to do but I think I can do it. Once you stop, you're done and I think I'm not ready to say that I'm done, because I don't feel like I am. I still feel like there's things to accomplish."

"Look at my career from 30, 32, 33 on. A lot of players retire at 33. I think the last eight years of my career have been better than the first 10 so I should just prolong it. And that's what I'm trying to do."

Brady is helped in the prolonging of his career by his TB12 method, a customized fitness regime geared toward keeping him able to play at the highest level.

It helped him win his third NFL MVP award last season and the five-time Super Bowl champion will look to add to his honors in the 2018 NFL season, which commences Thursday night with the season opener between the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles.

The Patriots, meanwhile, kick off their campaign Sunday when they host the Houston Texans at the Gilette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Texans head coach Bill O'Brien recently lauded Brady's longevity and believes he is only continuing to improve.

"Yeah, I think that — you know, first of all, people talk about the later parts of his career. I don’t really see where his — you know, I don’t know when his career’s going to be over because he’s playing at a — I mean, he was the MVP last year, you know what I mean?" O’Brien said in a conference call Tuesday. "So, like when is his — I don’t even know what the definition of latter part of this guy’s career would be."

"He’s the MVP of the league last year. So, I think that with every veteran player that’s lasted over 10 to 15 years in our league, whatever position they play, they always find a way to take care of their bodies in different ways. You know, every guy does it in different ways and they find a way to keep their legs in shape, to keep their upper bodies in shape, to keep their minds sharp relative to the game and obviously Tom [Brady] does a great job of that," he added.