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- Tom Brady announced his retirement with a lengthy letter on social media on Tuesday.
- Among the many reactions to the news, Shaq had the one that many fans were also thinking.
- Read more news about the NFL here.
There has been no shortage of terrific responses to news that Tom Brady is retiring after 22 amazing years in the NFL.
Everyone from The Patriots, Buccaneers and Jets organizations have weighed in with tributes.
Players like Peyton and Eli Manning and Jalen Ramsey, who had one of the most perfect reactions, have also shared their thoughts.
Then there are people and athletes outside of the NFL orbit that have also congratulated Tom Brady on a surefire Hall of Fame career.
Often times it’s hard to face the reality that the greats will one day hang it up. Hell of a career. Will be interesting to see where his professional life goes from here. https://t.co/5OO05tsj6V
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) February 1, 2022
Thank you @TomBrady for 22 years that gave us 7 Super Bowls, several broken records, and making every teammate you played with better. That’s why you are the GOAT (& I normally don’t say anything good about Wolverines lol!).
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) February 1, 2022
Very proud of my friend @TomBrady. You inspired us all with your work ethic and passion. Congrats pal. pic.twitter.com/KOSRCFMSum
— Kenny Chesney (@kennychesney) February 1, 2022
Over on Instagram, the accolades and tributes also came rolling in for TB12 from all over the world.
“U will be missed champ…” noted Eagles fan Kevin Hart commented.
“GOAT,” simply wrote Alex Rodriguez.
Fellow Under Armour spokesman The Rock commented, “Congratulations, my brother. What a historic career. Now go enjoy that next chapter w/ that same passion, zest & mana.”
The best comment, however, may have come from Shaquille O’Neal though.
@tombrady
Replies to Shaq’s comment were pretty universal with numerous football fans agreeing with him and writing things like “real talk” and “someone had to say it!!”
Considering Tom Brady won more Super Bowls than any franchise in the NFL, even the haters have to admit the NFL won’t be the same without him.
As one NFL fan on Reddit so aptly summed up Brady’s career, “Brady has the most playoff wins despite having a bye week in 13 of his seasons. He only played 6 wild card games in his career and got to 35 wins mostly in divisional rounds and higher.”
Crazy, right? How about the fact that there are only three teams in the entire NFL with more playoff wins than TB12?
No wonder Shaq doesn’t want Brady to quit.
O’Neal did, however, follow up his initial comment with another one that was a little less demanding.
“Love u bro absolute joy to watch,” he later added.
Most NFL fans would also have to agree with him there too.