Should Tom Brady and Bill Belichick retire on top?

After winning Super Bowl XLIX, should Tom Brady and Bill Belichick retire on top?

By nature of a victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, the New England Patriots are flying about as high as anyone could imagine. In some ways, the win over Seattle felt like an escape, with the Patriots trailing by 10 points in the fourth quarter and the final defensive stand capped by an interception courtesy of unknown cornerback Malcolm Butler. Still, New England emerging with a fourth Super Bowl title in 15 years should not have come as a surprise for one reason.

The Patriots have Tom Brady at quarterback and Bill Belichick wearing a headset.

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Simply put, Brady and Belichick form the best quarterback-head coach combination in NFL history. Including the playoffs, New England’s braintrust has put together a 181-55 record when paired together, and that win total forms an NFL record by a wide margin.

However, both men are beginning to reach the end of the traditional rope at their position from an age perspective. Brady will be 38 years old when the 2015 season begins in September, with only Peyton Manning as an active contemporary in that age group, and Belichick became the third-oldest head coach to win a Super Bowl on Sunday evening, trailing only Dick Vermeil and Tom Coughlin.

That conundrum brings about an interesting choice for both Brady and Belichick, and that revolves around the possibility of “riding off into the sunset”. Perhaps the most famous example, at least from a player standpoint, comes courtesy of John Elway, who won back-to-back Super Bowls in the late 1990’s with the Denver Broncos. Elway retired immediately following a Super Bowl victory at the age of 38, even with knowledge that he was still playing at a Hall of Fame level, and that is where Brady finds himself right now.

To be clear, Tom Brady has given no intention that he would even consider this type of decision. In fact, Brady has been quoted in saying that he would like to play until he’s 45 years old, and even if that is slightly hyperbolic, the now-reigning Super Bowl MVP just submitted a season with 33 touchdowns and 9 interceptions while operating as the best player on a title-winning team, and in 2015, it seems like a stretch that a player who is as football-focused as Brady would simply walk away on top.

Then, there is Bill Belichick.

Belichick is an interesting animal in that it is incredibly difficult to see beyond his icy exterior. The veteran head coach is notorious for his press conference performance art, in which he bewilders onlookers with one-sentence answers, non-responses and, sometimes, even just grunting.

In the same breath, Belichick is widely considered to be the best, and most innovative, head coach in the NFL today, and from a perception standpoint, he rises to the top of his profession even more than Brady has at his craft. The physical demands are not quite as grueling for a head coach, and at 62 years old, Bill Belichick could almost surely perform the job for nearly another decade, but does he want to? No one really knows.

Narrative drives this conversation, and we would be naive to think otherwise. There is something inherently special, at least in the eyes of some, about simply fading away while still displaying the physical ability to perform at the highest level.

“Tom Brady doesn’t need the money” seems to be a popular argument, especially amongst reports that his wife (supermodel Gisele Bundchen) earns significantly more money than the quarterback on a yearly basis. However, Brady has been vocal since entering the league about his passion for simply playing the game, and legislating that out of a human being would be a tall task, with an extra emphasis given to just how well he is playing.

On the Belichick side, the prevailing argument would appear to be that he has accomplished everything there is to accomplish. While this may make sense to an outsider, Bill Belichick strikes as the type of personality who is already laser-focused on the upcoming 2015 season, and even allowing himself to reflect or celebrate for a few days would seem to be a stretch.

Perhaps that is what makes the “debate” over Tom Brady and Bill Belichick wildly interesting. One man is in the spotlight for numerous reasons, led chiefly by the fact that he is a good-looking quarterback who happens to be married to one of the most famous women on Earth. The other man plainly wants to be left alone to coach football, something he outwardly loves, and everything else lags somewhere behind.

Tom Brady isn’t retiring. Bill Belichick isn’t retiring.

Those two statements are not bold in nature, as neither has given an indication that they would even consider the choice. However, no one could fault either Brady or Belichick for walking away on top, and there will almost certainly be chatter about the “picturesque” scene and/or time in which to make that type of decision.

The New England Patriots will be back as contenders in 2015, and they will be led by their elite duo of quarterback and head coach. Now, let’s talk about Tom Brady’s contract, shall we?

Next: Is Brady the best ever?

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