BOSTON (AP) — Whether Tom Brady will return as quarterback of the New England Patriots next season is still an open question. But the 42-year-old on Wednesday gave another indication that he isn't done playing football.
In an Instagram post to fans, Brady said “I still have more to prove” following a season that ended with the Patriots failing to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since 2015.
“In both life and football, failure is inevitable," he wrote. “You dont always win. You can, however, learn from that failure, pick yourself up with great enthusiasm, and place yourself in the arena again.”
New England's season ended with a 20-13 loss in the wild-card round to the Tennessee Titans on Saturday night. A six-time Super Bowl champion, four-time Most Valuable Player of the NFL title game and three-time winner of the league MVP, Brady could become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career when his contract ends in March.
If Brady doesn't return to New England for the 2020 season, one former Colts coach said Wednesday Indianapolis could be a good fit for the quarterback.
"As crazy as it sounds, the best spot might be Indianapolis, believe it or not. I know they've been bitter rivals," Tony Dungy said on "The Rich Eisen Show."
Dungy said the Colts have young receivers with a lot of speed to catch Brady's passes. He also pointed to a "tremendous offensive line" in Indianapolis and that the team needs an established quarterback.
"I never thought Peyton Manning would play in another uniform besides that Colts horseshoe. He went out to Denver and had some great years and won a Super Bowl and led the league in passing. If worse comes to worse, I think Tom will do that. He'll go somewhere else and set a very high standard."
"If I was sitting here with the team that I have right now and Tom said he was interested, I would try to make it happen," Dungy said, putting himself in place of Colts management.
That has placed team owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick on the clock to either bring back Brady for his 21st season or watch the franchise’s greatest player depart from the only team he's called home.
Belichick said this week that there isn't an established timeline to resolve Brady's status, but he acknowledged that his case is unusual.
“Everybody's situation is different," Belichick said. "Certainly, Tom is an iconic figure in this organization. And nobody respects Tom more than I do.”
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
