NFL analyst Cris Carter recently shared that he had a revealing conversation a few years ago with Tom Brady Sr. The elder Brady said he worried even then that his son wouldn’t be able to walk away from football.
Carter made these comments on the Up and Adams Show.
“The night before the game (Chiefs and Buccaneers Super Bowl), I happened to meet up with Tom Brady’s dad … he said the only thing he’s worried about is the kid won’t go home,” Carter said. “He said, ‘The kid is outside still playing and he won’t come in. It’s raining, everything, I’m only afraid the kid won’t stop playing even if he wins.’ He won that game, and he’s still playing.”
Brady’s 13-year marriage ended in part because of his inability to walk away from football. He had retired earlier in the year, only to return to football about a month later. In the fall, Brady announced his divorce.
Carter seems to understand why Brady and others like him have a problem transitioning from the NFL back into real life.
“So it is a problem. The NFL is a drug, man. And there is no other office job, there is no other partnership, there is no other relationship,” Carter said. “We’ve got great [former] players broadcasting, running teams. It’s nothing like the NFL. And it’s not a close second.”
Carter predicts that Brady’s career will probably end sadly when he is unable to play like he use to.