Tom Brady to Gisele after she pleaded with him to retire: 'Too bad, babe'

Back in 2015, Brady said he wanted to play another 10 years

By Ryan Wilson

Feb 7, 2017 at 10:38 am ET • 1 min read

Early in the 2015 season, Tom Brady told reporters that he felt like he could play 10 more years. He was 38 at the time.

Brady turns 40 in August. And even though he just put the finishing touches on his fifth Super Bowl title -- and his fourth Super Bowl MVP -- and with seemingly nothing left to prove, he has every intention of playing in 2017.

But if Gisele Bundchen, Brady's wife, had her way, the Patriots quarterback would have taken his last professional snap.

"If it was up to my wife, she would have me retire today," Brady told Sirius XM Radio. "She told me that last night three times. And I said, 'Too bad, babe, I'm having too much fun right now.' You know, I feel like I can still do it. 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."

Tom Brady talks #SB51 win, "magical year," and his response to Gisele telling him to retire https://t.co/HYlPhQcdc0 (AP Photo) #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/4MI8vhNZiv
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) February 6, 2017

Age affects different people in different ways, but Brady has somehow seemed to reverse the process. He's better now than ever, and there's no reason to think that suddenly changes in the coming months.

"In some ways, being more experienced and having your family life settled does allow you to focus a little bit more, too, because there's less B.S. in your life," Brady explained. "You have your family and you can go to work and focus on your job. And you expect your teammates to do the same."

Two offseasons ago we wrote about how much longer Brady could realistically play at a high level. Here's what we concluded:

The takeaway: A quick peek into the past not only suggests that Brady will continue to play at a high level in 2014, but based on what his geriatric quarterbacking counterparts have previously accomplished during their twilight years, his best football could be ahead of him.