Did Tom Brady hand the baton off to Matthew Stafford?

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To retire, or not to retire, that is the question

The retirement of long-time veteran QB Tom Brady is pretty big news. So you would expect the first reports of that story to be a well-choreographed and coordinated event that would be timed so that it would not flood the NFL headlines during more relevant NFL events. But the story leaked prematurely before the NFL would hold both the AFC and NFC Championship games.

So, there was quite a bit of controversy over whether he is or is not retiring when the news first broke:

Tom Brady is retiring from football after 22 extraordinary seasons, multiple sources tell @JeffDarlington and me.

More coming on https://t.co/rDZaVFhcDQ. pic.twitter.com/6CHWmMlyXg
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 29, 2022

So Brady retired.

Wait a minute

Of course, the first place to confirm the story was the NFL team he played for. That placed a lot of reporters and microphones in front of Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians, and any other team executive who could be found.

Confirming reports that Tom Brady called GM Jason Licht today to tell him he hasn’t made a decision on retirement. That’s in addition to Bruce Arians telling me Brady said he “wasn’t close.”

Keep in mind though: athletes like to be in control of their stories and their narrative
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) January 30, 2022

After the initial reports broke that he was retiring, the NFL PR machine tried to put that toothpaste back into the tube, with limited results:

It's been an hour since ESPN reported Tom Brady's retirement. NFL accounts, Brady brand accounts have acknowledged it, but the team has said nothing, and just checking moments ago, Bruce Arians hasn't been told he's retiring. Doesn't add up right now.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) January 29, 2022

Numerous other news agencies showed up on this one, and nobody could confirm the story.

So is he or isn’t he?

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