Will Tom Brady Retire Soon? Gisele Bundchen Begged Quarterback Husband To Leave Patriots, NFL

If Gisele Bundchen had her way, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady would have walked away from the NFL after winning Super Bowl 51 over the Atlanta Falcons. But in an interview this week in the immediate aftermath of the victory, Brady, 39, indicated he plans to play football for a bit longer.

"If it was up to my wife, she would have me retire today. She told me that last night three times," Brady said with a laugh in an interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio. "And I said, 'Too bad, babe, I'm having too much fun right now.' You know, I feel like I can still do it. And if you love what you do and you're capable of doing it, then I might be so bored if I wasn't going out there knowing that I could still do it. So I'm going to work hard to be ready to go, and I still plan on playing for a long time."

Brady has expressed an interest in playing five more years, taking him to about age 44 or 45, which would represent an exceptional accomplishment. The Patriots expect Brady has three to five seasons left in him, according to NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport.

For context, Brady's longtime rival Peyton Manning retired at 39, although the former Indianapolis Colt and Denver Bronco did suffer multiple neck injuries that seemingly caused his skills to wilt. San Francisco 49ers legend Joe Montana, perhaps Brady's only competition for the title of " greatest of all time," retired at 38.

By all accounts Brady is obsessive about extending his football career, however, and modern technology has allowed athletes to extend their playing days past what folks previously thought was possible. Brady also severely limits what he eats — for instance, so-called nightshades like peppers, mushrooms, or eggplants are verboten because they aren't anti-inflammatory — while cutting out free time to allow for sleep.

"There's no other 39-year-olds playing now at quarterback," he told ABC News last year. "I don’t go to bed at 1 a.m. and wake up at 5 a.m. and say, 'Let's see if I can get this done today.'"