NFL

Tom Brady’s ‘Personal Matter’ Is About ‘Work/Life Balance’ According to NFL Insider Ian Rapoport

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Tom Brady is stepping away from the team to deal with 'personal matters' which Ian Rapaport says are all good.

Outside of an NFL suspension (2016) and a catastrophic knee injury (2008), Tom Brady hasn’t missed a game since he became a starter. If Brady can walk and is legally allowed, he shows up. That’s why Brady’s prolonged absence from Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp this season is taking so many by surprise. However, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the GOAT’s absence from his team doesn’t sound as serious as it initially did.

Tom Brady’s work/life balance is the cause of his absence from Buccaneers training camp

On Thursday, August 11, news broke that Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady was taking a leave from the team. The stated purpose of the leave is to deal with a “personal matter.”

New Bucs head coach Todd Bowles announced that Brady wouldn’t just be missing a day or two of practice. Instead, Bowles said that the franchise didn’t expect the seven-time Super Bowl winner back with the team until sometime after the second preseason game against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday, August 20.

This extended leave came as a shock to most fans and outside observers. Plus, the cryptic nature of Brady’s “personal matter” added to the speculation. Despite what it may sound like, Brady’s vacation from training camp seems like just that.

Hours after the announcement, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport joined the Pat McAfee Show to explain more about Brady’s situation.

“It was planned. No one is worried. He’s fine. It’s not — to my knowledge — it is not a medical emergency related to him or, I believe, anyone close to him,” Rapoport explained. “I was told everything is OK. The best description I got about this is was that it’s important to find a work/life balance.”

After that explanation, McAfee speculated that Brady probably planned something for this next week-plus while he was retired. And now, he is simply honoring that commitment to his wife and/or kids.

“I don’t know specifically, but my guess is, just judging from the people I’ve spoken with, that you’re kind of in the right area,” Rapoport confirmed. “Like, there is a family thing that I believe is happening — that is good — that he’s not playing football.”

The fact that Brady is basically skipping Buccaneers training camp at the age of 45 shouldn’t be all that surprising. He was obviously torn between continuing his career and spending more time with his family when he retired this offseason. This break gives him the best of both worlds.

Brady, a consummate observer of the game, also probably took a cue from Aaron Rodgers last season. The Green Bay Packers QB hardly attended training camp. However, he stepped in Week 1 and led the Packers to the best record (13-3) in the NFC.

The one note there is that the only blemish on Rodgers and the Packers’ stellar season last year is that the New Orleans Saints blitzed Green Bay 38-3 in Week 1.

This might mean that the best bet on the Tampa Buccaneers this season would be to win the division and make the playoffs, but take the 2022 Dallas Cowboys at home against Tom Brady and the Bucs in Week 1.

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RELATED: NFL Insider Mike Florio Explains Tom Brady Conspiracy Theory About the QB Forcing Bruce Arians Out: ‘None of It Adds Up’

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Tim Crean
Sports Editor

Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.

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Author photo
Tim Crean Sports Editor

Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.

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