The New England Patriots lost Saturday to the Tennessee Titans, 20-13, in what could be star quarterback Tom Brady’s last game.
The match-up came amid intense speculation about whether this may be Brady’s last season with the Patriots and last time as an NFL pro at Gillette Stadium outside Boston.
Brady, 42, has won six Super Bowls with the team, most recently last year, but the Patriots have not renewed his contract that expires at the end of this season. That has ramped up questions over whether Brady might retire or join another team next year.
Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings.
If he were to leave the Patriots for another team, there could be a fair amount of interest from the rest of the National Football League considering that he has set almost every NFL playoff record possible, including total games played in the playoffs — which will hit 41 on Saturday.
Brady also has 30 playoff wins in his professional career, while the 11 other quarterbacks in the league only have 26 combined.
Brady, who was the Patriots’ sixth-round draft pick in 2000, said at a press conference on Friday that he’s “not much for nostalgia” after he was asked whether this could be the last time he plays in Gillette Stadium, the notorious venue in Foxborough, Massachusetts, that he has called home.
“This week has felt pretty much like every other week for the last 20 years,” Brady said. “So, just trying to focus on what I need to do and this is a team that gives you a lot of challenges, and [we] just have to go out there and try to play really well.”
Reporters then asked whether he had seen others talking about his potential departure, especially after the team suffered a humiliating defeat against the Miami Dolphins last week.
“I haven’t turned the TV on. It’s probably not the best after we lose to turn the TV on and listen to all you guys’ shows and stuff like that. Probably weren’t too many great things happening, so I tried to lay low this week,” Brady said.
Bill Belichick, who became the head coach of the New England Patriots the same season that Brady joined the team, was also tight-lipped when asked if he thought it strange that this could be the quarterback’s last game in a New England uniform.
“Yeah, we’re focused on the Titans. That’s all I’m focused on, so we’ll do everything we can to get ready to go and play the best game we can play Saturday night,” Belichick said.
Dennis Romero contributed.