Can Tom Brady Please Retire if He Wins Another NFL MVP

Tom Brady is the favorite to win the 2021 NFL MVP.
Tom Brady is the favorite to win the 2021 NFL MVP. / Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
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Tom Brady just won't go away, and despite everyone else in the world suddenly loving the laid-back Floridian Brady, I'm still over him and his social media team propping him up as some hip middle-aged man the young kids can get behind. Bah humbug, get off my lawn and all that jazz.

Which made me very happy to see that Brady is now the betting favorite to win the 2021 NFL MVP award. My thought is, perhaps that's what he's been waiting for all these years. Perhaps a fourth MVP is the key to him retiring?

We know for damn sure it's not about going out on top with a Super Bowl. If that was the case, he would have retired last year. Or in 2018. No, Super Bowls aren't my key to escaping purgatory. Now I'm all in on an MVP award. Insert tongue in cheek.

Currently, Brady is +600 (bet $100 to win $600) to win the AP MVP on WynnBET. That's slightly ahead of Kyler Murray and Patrick Mahomes, who are both +650 to win the award, and Rams QB Matt Stafford, who is +750. The Brady-led Bucs face Stafford and the Rams today, with the Bucs slight -115 moneyline favorites over the Rams (-105).

Getting back to the heart of this, Brady last won an MVP in 2017. If you recall, the Patriots lost to the Eagles in that Super Bowl. Maybe if they won, Brady would have never become a Buc. If only I was so lucky. Instead, Brady came back and won the 2018 Super Bowl. And then another in 2020. But he still hasn't done the double, win the MVP and the Super Bowl. Is that what he's waiting for?

To my chagrin, we're now getting the best version of Brady we've ever seen. Yes, even though I hate on him, I also respect what he's doing this year. I mean, how can you not appreciate a 440-year-old throwing nine passing touchdowns in their first two games? Whoops, I mean 44-year-old.

Brady said he thinks he could play until 50 if he wanted to, but his wife, supermodel Gisele, and his family probably wouldn't appreciate it, which seems to be the only thing that can prevent Brady from playing forever.

Sarcasm aside, you do wonder what motivates Brady at this point. We know it's not money or breaking records, because he's got all he can handle on both fronts. No, it's something internal that only a select few have. A fourth MVP won't satisfy him any more than a seventh Super Bowl. But connect them together and maybe that's the key to this whole thing? Fingers crossed.