Julian Edelman heartbroken as Tom Brady unretires alongside Rob Gronkowski while ditching ex-Patriots WR for special football event

NFL legend Tom Brady is coming out of retirement, to a degree, to play in a one-off tournament next year. The seven-time Super Bowl winner and other football stars will participate in an inaugural flag football tournament.

According to an announcement on Monday, Brady is collaborating with Fanatics, Fox Sports, and OBB Media for the Fanatics Flag Football Classic in Saudi Arabia in March.

ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted the news on X:

"Tom Brady is coming out of retirement, sort of, to join Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, CeeDee Lamb, Maxx Crosby, Rob Gronkowski, Sauce Gardner Myles Garrett and others for the Fanatics Flag Football Classic - a competitive flag football tournament taking place during Riyadh Season in Saudi Arabia on March 21, 2026.

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"It will be Brady's first football action since retiring three years ago. Pete Carroll, Sean Payton, and Kyle Shanahan will be coaching the three teams."

While several former players, including Rob Gronkowski, will be joining Brady for the tournament, another former New England Patriots teammate, Julian Edelman, won't be in Saudi Arabia. Edelman shared a popular meme on X to showcase his disappointment.

The tournament will reportedly follow Olympic-style flag football rules. It will be played on a 50-yard field with two 10-yard end zones and two 20-minute halves.

Tom Brady shares excitement about opportunity to play competitive football again

This will be the first time Tom Brady will be playing a competitive football game since announcing his retirement in 2023. The Patriots icon shared his excitement for the tournament:

"Couldn’t be more excited to return to the field, get the competitive juices flowing alongside some of the game’s brightest stars and iconic legends, and bring a truly unique global sports event to fans everywhere during Riyadh Season.

"It’s awesome to be able to showcase the sport on such a global stage while joining together so many incredibly skilled athletes."

Brady spent more than two decades in the NFL, establishing himself as one of the game's greatest players. He has the opportunity to take the game's popularity to another level with his latest collaboration.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash