TOM BRADY RETIRES AT AGE 44

January 1st, 2000, the 66th annual Orange Bowl at Pro Player Stadium in northern Miami and the New York Yankees were reportedly interested in a University of Michigan sophomore third baseman Drew Henson.

Sounded like a good story, a prime time college football game before a full house, and the Bronx Bombers, the most successful franchise in professional sports, with their minds on the infielder who went from the starting quarterback to the back-up quarterback.

So I hooked up with Lloyd Carr, the head football coach of the Wolverines when they arrived at the 5-star Americana Hotel in Dade County five days before the opening kickoff. I figured maybe I could piece together a sidebar on

the Hanson kid if the busy Carr had a few minutes for me.

Well, he did, and he informed me that Hanson and fifth-year senior and co-captain Tom Brady was too close to call when the season began, so Carr, a self-professed one-quarterback man, told me he decided to play both.

That’s right, No. 10 Brady would start and No. 7 Hanson would play the second half, and he and his coaches would decide who would start the third quarter.

That was then, but with one month left in the campaign, it was Brady who clearly emerged as “the” guy. He completed 61 percent of his passes for 2,217 yards to go with 16 touchdowns and earned the Big Ten team’s most valuable player award for guiding the Wolverines to a 9-2 overall record and an Orange Bowl berth.

Carr said he now had a team meeting on tap, and added that if he would start the season again tomorrow, he would do it exactly the same.

So, that was that, I still had the sidebar in mind, but now I switched my attention to the 6-foot-5, 211-pound Brady from San Mateo, Calif. I learned that Michigan’s receiving corps was among the nation’s best and set a school record with its passing game, averaging 201.5 yards through the air under Brady.

Meanwhile, this game was a thriller. Hanson never took the field, hung out on the sidelines and helped direct the offense. The rest was history. The Crimson Tide (10-2) took an early lead on a 37-yard sideline run from 6-1, 220 senior tailback Shaun Alexander, and junior Chris Kemp kicked the PAT.

But late in the opening quarter, Brady moved the team downfield for 64 yards on 10 plays and handed it off to sophomore running back Walter Cross who ran it in from the 11, and was followed by senior kicker Brandon Komblue  booting the point-after.

It was 7-7 after one, and with 4:30 to before the intermission and the always colorful halftime show, Komblue was good for a 33-yard field goal, but almost two minutes later, Bama picked up a 41-yard field goal from Kemp and it was 10-10 at halftime.

What followed was two touchdowns each, one thrown by Brady to tie the score at 24-24 after Komblue kicked the PAT with 6:24 remaining in regulation. Along came overtime, and in the first one, Brady tossed a TD into the end zone, the point-after was good, and Alabama did the same and it was 31-all

Again, the Big Blue made it to pay dirt on a Brady pass to senior wide receiver Kevin Bryant and again the conversion was good. But when the Crimson Tide sent Alexander up the middle to get within 38-37, Bama’s extra point kick sailed wide left and it was game time as the Wolverines rushed the field.

After the game, I had a tough time finding space at Brady’s locker. But when I did, he was calm, cool and overjoyed to win a game like this. Now he was hoping to be among the top quarterbacks selected in the college draft.

But that wasn’t going to happen. He was the 199th pick of the New England Patriots, whose rather new head coach Bill Bellichick appeared happy with their choice. And in Brady’s second season, down went veteran stater Drew Bledsoe  with a knee serious injury, and in came Brady who went on that season to lead the Pats to a Super Bowl victory over the heavily favored Los Angeles Rams.

After that, it was Bledsoe on the sidelines and Brady paving the way to consecutive Super Bowls after the 2003-04 seasons. No team has since repeated as champions.

Except that New England wouldn’t win another for a decade, twice losing to the New York Giants and Eli Manning. In the 17-14 loss to the Giants in 2008, it prevented the Patriots from completing an undefeated campaign.

Brady earned his fourth ring after the 2014 season with a huge record comeback against the Atlanta Falcons, and in 2018 it was the PATs turning back the Rams again.

Now comes the retirement after 22 years. This came two seasons after he signed to quarterback the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and transformed them into a franchise that hadn’t won a playoff game in 18 years, and in Tampa Bay, handily won the Super Bowl over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Nothing this past season when the Bucs were eliminated by the Rams. Then he gave much thought to hanging up his cleats at the age of 44 as one of the finest players in sports history. He went back and fourth before making his final decision this week, to which Bellichick said his former superstar was no doubt the best player he’d ever seen.

Brady leaves as the career leader in yards passing (84,520) and touchdowns (624). He’s the only player to win more than five Super Bowls and was MVP of the game five times. He’s also won National Football League MVP awards, was a first-team All-Pro three times and was selected to the Pro Bowl 15 times.

Yes, it keeps piling up. He was 243-73 in his career in the regular season and 35-12 in playoffs. reached the post-season 19 times, won 18 division titles, went 10-4 in conference games and 7-3 in Super Bowls.

Thus, he finishes his long career while still performing at his peak and being nothing short of extraordinary. He does this while announcing

his decision to leave the game in order to spend more time with his family.

An incredible competitor and leader, his stellar career is remarkable for its longevity but also for the sustained excellence he displayed year after year. Known for his work ethic, intense exercise regimen and strict diet, and was even better with age.

After turning 37, Brady won four Super Bowls and was 17-4 in the playoffs. He was 95-30, completed 65.2 percent of his passes for 35,371 yards, 265 touchdowns and 69 interceptions in the regular season in those eight years. Older? It didn’t matter, he never lost a beat.

“I have always believed the sport of football is an ‘all-in’ proposition,” he said this week. “If a 100 percent competitive commitment isn’t there, you won’t succeed, and success is what I love so much about our game.”

He added: “There is a physical, mental and emotional challenge every single day that has allowed me to maximize my highest potential, and I have tried my very best these past 22 years. There are no shortcuts to success on the field or in life.”

As a long time New York fan of the Giants and Jets, I have no doubt enjoyed spending all this time following the stardom of Tom Brady from the Orange Bowl that night until his final fling now. To him, age was just a number and he deserves everything he’s entitled to, and Drew Hanson was never signed to play for the Yankees.