Fact: Other sports stars who continued after 40
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 40, football.
Despite injury problems, the attacking star led Milan to the league gold with eight goals in 23 games. Also made a comeback in the national team last year. The soon-to-be 41-year-old Ibrahimovic, who is currently on his way back from cruciate ligament surgery, signed a new one-year contract with Milan this summer.
Shapely, 44, football.
Formiga, or Mirailde’s Maciel Mota as she is actually called, in Tokyo last year became the first female soccer player to participate in seven Olympics. After a total of 26 years in the Brazilian national team, she retired in November. The midfielder, who is also the only player on both the women’s and men’s side to have played in seven World Cup finals, now plays for parent club São Paulo.
Venus Williams, 42, tennis.
Much suggests that little sister Serena, who with 23 grand slam titles is one of the sport’s greatest of all time, has played her last match. Big sister Venus, who also played in the US Open, has been more vague about her future plans. The American has won seven individual grand slam titles, but in the last decade has mainly reaped great success in doubles paired with her sister. Has a total of 14 grand slam wins in doubles and three Olympic golds.
Roger Federer, 41, tennis.
The Swiss legend, who has won 20 grand slam titles, has been plagued by injuries in recent years, which has seen him miss all major tournaments this year. Still has no plans to end his career but aims to make a comeback in the Laver Cup team competition later this month.
Zdeno Chára, 45, ice hockey.
The more than two meter long defenseman debuted in the NHL 25 years ago. After 14 seasons in Boston, Chára left to play in Washington. The transfer team then moved on to the New York Islanders, the club the Slovakian was drafted by in 1996. However, there will be no continuation in the Islanders for Chára, who is expected to announce his future soon.
Udonis Haslem, 42, basketball.
With his 19 years in the Miami Heat, the three-time NBA champion is the currently active player who has belonged to one and the same club for the longest time. The other week, Haslem signed a new one-year contract with Miami. According to the NBA, he is just the third player, along with Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitski, in league history to play at least 20 seasons for one club.
Johan Clarey, 41, alpine.
After a best of 18th place in three Olympic starts, the French veteran won his first Olympic medal earlier this year when he won silver in the downhill in Beijing. Clarey, who also has a World Cup silver in super-G on his track record, has not yet decided whether his career will continue for another season.
Tom Brady is the most successful player ever in American football.
After his Tampa Bay was eliminated from the playoffs last winter, the superstar announced that the 22-year career is over.
“It’s best that I leave room on the field for the new generation of determined and dedicated athletes,” Brady wrote on Instagram.
However, the retirement did not last very long. By March, Brady had changed his mind.
“In these two months I have realized that my place is still on the pitch and not in the stands,” he wrote on Twitter.
How is it then that a soon-to-be 45-year-old, who won the Super Bowl a record seven times and was voted the league’s most valuable player on numerous occasions, chooses to resume his career?
“Is there a hunger”
According to Philip Minja, former Swedish national team player and until recently expert in Viaplay’s NFL studio, there are explanations for this.
Not least, he believes that the decision was basically not Brady’s own.
— For him, it is important to be able to finish in the right way, not that it is leaked or assumed. I think it is very much about that and that there is a hunger, says Minja and continues:
— As his parents said, he was probably pressured based on reports that he might do it. He probably wasn’t ready to make that decision, even if he thought about it. It was probably a bit forced based on the climate that arose.
Still among the best
Instead, it will be a 23rd NFL season for the greatest quarterback in history. But is Brady still among the very best in the league?
Yes, Philip Minja believes.
— He has something that is not linked to age or physical attributes – but it is about his mental toughness and that he is simply good at solving problems on the pitch.
Minja does not think that Brady’s continued high level can be explained by the sport he plays or the position he plays.
— He is a bit of a one-off. Others who have been great at that position notice physical limitations when they pass the 40 mark – it becomes something of a precipice for the physical parts and you can no longer play the quarterback position. But he has not ended up there, says the expert.
Philip Minja doesn’t know if this season will be Brady’s last. There are several factors that can influence the decision, he believes.
“If it’s a nice finish, he can probably be done,” says Minja.
Missed in the pre-season
However, the return has not been completely problem-free for the Tampa Bay star. He has missed part of the preseason for personal reasons and it is reported in the American media that wife Gisele Bündchen is disappointed with Brady’s decision to make a comeback.
— We all have different things going on. But I think as soon as the football season starts, I’m completely focused on what I need to do and how I need to focus, and the kind of commitment I need to make to the organization so that we can maximize our potential as a team,” Brady said, according to NBC Sports.
Once Tom Brady chooses to end his career for good remains to be seen. However, the NFL icon will continue to enthrall audiences even after that. Earlier this year, Brady signed a ten-year contract with Fox Sports, worth the equivalent of nearly SEK 4 billion, to become the television channel’s NFL expert after his playing career.
TV is not broadcast in Sweden
— It’s something the whole world is waiting for – to hear how it goes and how he worked. He will be able to give away his results and I think that will revolutionize television and the position he played – to know the details that made him so special. It will be so cool, says Philip Minja.
However, the Swedish television audience has no given platform to consume the NFL this season. As Viaplay, which has previously broadcast all matches from the American Football League, like other suppliers lack rights, Minja refers to the NFL’s game pass and social media platforms to take part in analyses.
And hope that a solution will come.
— Nothing is impossible, but I don’t know more. We just have to keep our fingers crossed, he says.