"He was almost forced in that direction" - NFL insider believes there's more to come from Tom Brady

Tom Brady is retired, but will it stay that way? The way he ran off the field after losing to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Los Angeles Rams didn't give fans any indication that it was his final game.

While Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees' final games took on a different tone, Brady's final game took on the same tone as any other. Since the announcement, it has come to light that former teammates and an NFL insider believe that we have not yet seen the last of Tom Brady.

According to CBS Sports, NFL Media's Mike Giardi has said that others think the quarterback may return in 2022.

"I've talked to a couple of people who were with Brady in Foxboro and know him very well, and they said, 'I don't believe for a second that he's done,'" Giardi said. "A lot of people feel like [Brady] was almost forced in that direction [to retire] and doesn't wanna go in that direction just yet."

What "forced" Tom Brady to retire?

New Orleans Saints v Tampa Bay Buccaneers

If the quarterback was forced to retire, what would have been the catalyst? The biggest culprit could be his spouse, supermodel Gisele Bundchen. It is no secret that she has been pushing the quarterback towards retirement for quite some time.

At the same time, the quarterback has been saying he wants to play until he's 45 years old.

Perhaps he told her that he only wanted to play until the year before he turned 45 years old. The decision to play until the age of 45 can be read in two different ways.

One way is to play into the 45th year and end at that time. Another option is to play until the last possible moment before one turns 45 years old, therefore playing until one turns 45 years old.

Perhaps the entire NFL world misinterpreted the quarterback's statements. There's a chance he meant he was only going to play until the season when he would be 45 years old. The NFL world has been duped by a turn of phrase before.

In 2021, Aaron Rodgers duped the media into thinking he was vaccinated by using different phrasing, saying he was "immunized."

Of course, that was intentional. The former quarterback's case could have easily been a misunderstanding. He could have corrected the expectations, but did not.

What was the moment when the three-time NFL MVP decided that it was going to end? Was it months or years ago or was it an epiphany that occurred in the last month?

TB12 will likely have a tell-all book one day, but until then, one can only guess.