Why Tom Brady un-retired: Bucs will be fine and age-45 season may be his best yet, but this was no master plan

Everyone has a right to change their mind, even if the GOAT never really went away in 40-plus day 'retirement'

Well, that didn't take long.

Tom Brady is back. It feels almost like he never left. Because, well, his "retirement" lasted all of about 40 days and included more hints and innuendos about coming back to football than anything else. Brady never really went away, appearing on podcasts and maintaining a steady social media presence. And if you saw the interaction between him and fellow GOAT (or GOATish) Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United's match from earlier this weekend, it certainly didn't look like a man totally at ease with his decision. (And, considering that Man U is owned by the Glazer family, who own the Bucs, one could surmise that Brady may have delivered the message in person, getting assurances about the cast to be put around him.)

As it turns out, Brady clearly was not fully comfortable with walking away. And the NFL is better for it.