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Tom Brady Says Family Will Help Make Decision On His Future: 'It's Not Always What I Want'

BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady will eventually make a decision about his future. Though it's not just his decision to make anymore.

As the quarterback has said in years past, it's not just about him these days. So as the 44-year-old weighs his future, he'll have a lot of help figuring out whether or not he wants to keep playing.

Brady doesn't know if he'll keep playing just yet, telling Jim Gray that he'll know when he knows during their "Let's Go!" Podcast on Monday. But Brady made it clear that family will once again be one of the biggest factors when making his decision.

Brady's wife, Gisele Bundchen, and his three kids will be a big part of the process this offseason. Fittingly, his daughter, Vivian, said hello while Brady was chatting about his future with Gray.

"They've been my biggest supporters. My wife has been my biggest supporter. It pains her to see me get hit out there and she deserves what she needs from me as a husband and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad," Brady told Gray. "I'm going to spend some time with them and give them what they need, because they've really given me what I needed that last six months.

"I said this a few years ago: It's what relationships are all about. It's not always what I want; it's what we want as a family," added Brady. "I'm going to spend a lot of time with them and figure out in the future what's next."

Brady has said that he wanted to play through his age-45 season, or that he'd walk away when he "sucked." He certainly didn't "suck" in 2021, leading the NFL with 5,316 passing yards and 43 touchdowns -- the second-highest total of his career.

He still loves to play, but from the sounds of it, Brady wouldn't mind the massive bump in family time that he would get from retiring.

"Playing football, I get so much joy from. I love it. But not playing football, there's a lot of joy in that for me also now too, with my kids getting older and seeing them develop and grow," he said. "All of these things need to be considered and they will be."

Brady did say that a farewell tour would be distracting to him, so if he does come back for the 2022 season, don't expect him to announce that it will be his final season.

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