More details emerge about Tom Brady's absence from Buccaneers camp
BOSTON -- As Tom Brady is set to begin his 23rd season in the NFL, some new details have come to light about the quarterback's 11-day absence from Buccaneers training camp earlier this summer.
As you may remember, Brady took a break from football in August, and there was quite a bit of mystery surrounding his truancy from camp. Some even speculated that the quarterback traded in his cleats for a microphone to make an appearance on the reality show, The Masked Singer.
That doesn't appear to be the case, however. According to NFL Insider Ian Rapoport, Brady was in the Bahamas fulfilling a promise to his wife that he made during his brief retirement during the offseason.
"As for his 11-day hiatus, sources say Brady spent the bulk of it in the Bahamas at a private resort with his family, making good on a mid-retirement promise he made to his wife, Gisele, that he would vacation with them in August for the first time in two decades," Rapoport wrote Sunday. "During his time off, the Bucs left him alone to be with his family, fully respectful. There were no football conversations, the source said, no playbooks mailed to the Bahamas. It was his personal situation, and they allowed him to live."
Rapoport didn't have any info on what Brady was doing when he wasn't in the Bahamas, so maybe there is still hope that he'll be belting some tunes on the reality show in the near future. But spending some pre-planned time with his family, after he audibled and un-retired after just 40 days, makes a lot more sense.
Gisele may get another August vaca out of her husband again next season as well. Rapoport reported that while Brady's future in the NFL is a fluid situation, which may come down to whether or not he lifts another Lombardi Trophy after this season, odds are pretty good that this is his final season as a player.
"As for Brady retiring, one source close to him cautioned that emotions are fluid and decisions could always come down to who is holding a trophy at the end of the season or feelings based around whether or not that person is Brady. That is conceivable," Rapoport wrote. "More likely, however, is that Brady will finish this year, then head to FOX Sports, where a 10-year, $375 million announcer/ambassador deal awaits."
