Patriots vs. Chargers: Brady Wants To Break More Records, No Retirement Thoughts

Tom Brady has five Super Bowl rings, 10 consecutive division titles and eight Super Bowl final appearances, but the 41-year-old quarterback has reiterated his desire to continue playing well into his 40’s.

There are few who have achieved as much as the New England Patriots quarterback has during his illustrious career. Yet he continues to make his way onto the field every week and put up impressive numbers for the team – leading them to yet another American Football Conference (AFC) East division title in 2018.

Brady has numerous records to his name – achieved during his almost two-decade-long career – like best touchdown to interception ratio in a season, most yards in a single season for a quarterback aged 40 or over (4,577) and he is also one of only three quarterbacks to have thrown 50 touchdowns in a season.

The Patriots veteran, however, has no intention to stop and revealed that he is keen to continue breaking or setting records before hanging up his helmet.

"Once you stop, you’re done,” Brady said on the “Why Sports Matter” podcast, as quoted on NESN. “I still feel there’s things to accomplish. And I’ve had an opportunity, based on all the things that happened the last 12 years of my life, you know, to put myself in a position to achieve things that no one else has achieved.”

“So I feel like I kind of have to do it. … It’s going to be hard to do. But I think I can do it,” the Patriots quarterback added.

Brady also revealed that he can be his true self only when on the field and admits that it is difficult for him to be himself when he walks off the field. The Patriots star believes his true emotions come out when he is calling the plays on the pitch in front of a packed stadium.

“When I’m out on the field in front of 70,000 people, I can kind of do what I want,” Brady said. “I can really be who I am. I get to be me, with my raw emotion and energy. If I want to scream at somebody, I can scream at somebody. But you don’t really see me do that any place else.”

“I don’t trust a lot of people. That’s probably why I love football so much because it allows me to be who I am in a very authentic way that is hard for me to be when I walk off the field,” he added.

Brady will lead the Patriots out on Sunday at the Gillette Stadium when they take on the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL divisional round with the winner going on to face one of the Kansas City Chiefs or the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Conference final.