FOXBORO — Tom Brady said it several times. He didn't want to get into his future.
"I don't know what the future looks like," Brady said when asked a third question about what was next for him. "I'm not going to predict it."
But when he was given an opportunity to direct a message toward Patriots fans — the group that has thrown its support behind him for the last two decades — he was willing to take a big-picture approach to his address.
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"We — and I, personally — appreciate everything that they’ve contributed over the course of not just this year, but a lot of years," Brady said after falling to the Titans, 20-13.
"Just very grateful for the experience of playing this year for this team, this organization, and over the course of my career, too. I appreciate it. I hope — I’ve always tried to do the right thing out there. Who knows what the future holds, so we’ll leave it at that."
Brady knows that of course there is some uncertainty as it pertains to where he'll be playing in 2020. (And he it sounds like he plans on playing. "I would say it's pretty unlikely," Brady said of retirement. "Hopefully unlikely.")
New England Patriots
He told the world that what was reported as an extension he signed this summer was in actuality a one-year pact.
He's now scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career, and there's a chance Saturday's loss to the Titans is his final game in a Patriots uniform.
A sign hung inside Gillette Stadium at field level that read, "PLEASE STAY TOMMY."
"I don’t want to get too much into the future and stuff," Brady said. "I mean, this team has fought hard. We battled every day, we tried to get better, we worked hard to improve and I was proud to be a part of this team. Not only this year, but every year.
"Again, I just don’t know what’s going to happen and I’m not going to predict it. No one needs to make choices at this point. I love playing football. I love playing for this team. I’ve loved playing for this team for two decades and winning a lot of games. And again, I don’t know what it looks like moving forward, so we’ll just take it day-by-day."