Tom Brady’s retirement means throne belongs to Patrick Mahomes alone

Tom Brady officially retired on Wednesday, which means any talk about the GOAT among active quarterbacks can now belong to Patrick Mahomes.

On Wednesday, Tom Brady said goodbye to the NFL for good—once again. Via a video posted to Twitter, Brady decided to call it a day—for real this time—and did so via a quick and somewhat emotional video tribute to everyone who has been a part of his incredible career.

Last year, Brady thought he would do the same but he came back for one more run with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was a decent thought given the tremendous run he’d enjoyed with the team but injuries really hurt the team. With Todd Bowles as head coach, the Bucs went 8-9 and were an easy out in the postseason for the Dallas Cowboys.

If you missed Brady’s video, you can hear it here:

https://twitter.com/TomBrady/status/1620772095889403905

Known as the greatest quarterback of all time, Brady’s departure from the game now creates a void. While Brady has faded from the spotlight in some ways, just know that it was the late ’90s since the NFL was without Brady. Brady was selected in the 2000 NFL Draft, became the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots in 2001, and dominated the league for the next two decades.

Now that Brady has abdicated his throne officially, it means there’s room for another young man to step up into it. Typically when there’s an opening for such a ruler, there’s a lot of fighting and posturing for someone else to rise up and take his place, but the truth is that Patrick Mahomes has already been rewriting Brady’s records (and those of everyone else) since he first took over the starting role for the Chiefs in 2018.

If Mahomes wasn’t so prolific, then we might hear conversations in the wake of Brady’s retirement about a new competition among the league’s young faces. Mahomes would face Josh Allen or Joe Burrow for the right to be known as the heir apparent. Perhaps others could get in on that conversation without a clear winner, especially as Trevor Lawrence improves or Justin Herbert continues to grow or Jalen Hurts gains a track record.

Instead, none of those conversations will take place because Mahomes is already the greatest quarterback of his generation—and he’s only 27. It’s the 3 Super Bowls in 5 seasons. It’s the home-field advantage he insists on having every postseason. It’s winning 80 percent of his games in the regular season and the two MVP awards (likely) for incredible production.

The NFL has a lot of bright young quarterbacks right now and the league is in good hands with those names in place. But as the best of a generation hands his torch back to the league that he dominated for decades, a new one has already been aflame for quite some time. And now that Brady is gone, Mahomes can take the throne without also deferring to someone else who deserved his own seat at the same time.

https://twitter.com/PatrickMahomes/status/1620773123489681408