Tom Brady is not coming out of retirement.
Adam Schefter, the most plugged-in NFL reporter anywhere, did in fact begin an X.com post Monday with the words “Tom Brady is coming out of retirement” — but he didn’t mean that the greatest quarterback of all time was actually doing so.
He won’t suit up to spell Joe Burrow while the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback nurses his turf toe back to health. He won’t nudge Russell Wilson into retirement and join the New York Giants.
What Brady, 48, will do is play in a flag football tournament in Saudi Arabia next March.
At least that’s what Schefter wrote.
Brady will join fellow retired New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski and a host of current NFL standouts including Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, CeeDee Lamb, Maxx Crosby, Sauce Gardner and Myles Garrett in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic, a three-team tournament to be held March 21, 2026, in Riyadh.
Pete Carroll, Sean Payton and Kyle Shanahan will coach the three five-player teams. The tournament will be held at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh and televised by Fox Sports, with comedian Kevin Hart hosting.
The whole thing sounds like fun. It is, however, a business plan disguised as a promotional stunt.
The NFL makes no secret that it is going global — witness the season opener in São Paulo between the Chiefs and Chargers. And Saudi Arabia makes no secret about broadening its sports holdings, investing billions through its Public Investment Fund in an attempt to expand its oil-based economy and mend its international image.
Fanatics, which is an exclusive licensed retailer of NFL online merchandise, will sponsor the flag football event as a business venture as well. The PIV and the Qatari sovereign wealth fund have invested in Fanatics.
“It is just a great opportunity to expand the game globally,” Brady said in a statement. “Sometimes, you have to get outside your comfort zone to create awareness.”
The NFL will play six more regular-season games overseas this season, three in London and one each in Dublin, Berlin and Madrid.
Flag football has become an easy way to introduce the game to new markets. The NFL has encouraged states to play flag football in high school, and it has become particularly popular as a girls sport.
Flag football also will debut as an Olympic sport in 2028 in L.A., and the NFL has given its players permission to participate.
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