A8 BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2022
SPORTS
Tom Brady returning to Tampa to play 23rd season in NFL
BY ROB MAADDI
AP Pro Football Writer
TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady’s
retirement lasted 40 days.
Brady said Sunday, March
13, that he’s returning to the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers for his
23rd NFL season.
The seven-time Super Bowl
champion announced his deci-
sion on Twitter and Instagram,
saying he has “unfinished busi-
ness.” The news stole the spot-
light from the NCAA’s Selec-
tion Sunday.
“These past two months I’ve
realized my place is still on the
field and not in the stands,”
Brady wrote. “That time will
come. But it’s not now. I love
my teammates, and I love my
supportive family. They make
it all possible. I’m coming back
for my 23rd season in Tampa.”
Brady led the Buccaneers to
a Super Bowl title following the
2020 season and NFC South
championship last season. He
teamed with coach Bill Beli-
chick to win six Super Bowls
during 20 seasons with the
New England Patriots.
The 44-year-old Brady
led the NFL in yards passing
(5,316), touchdowns (43), com-
pletions (485) and attempts
(719) in 2021, but the Bucca-
neers lost at home to the Los
Angeles Rams in the divisional
round.
“Tom Brady loves to play
football as much as anyone I
have ever been around,” Bucca-
neers coach Bruce Arians said.
“As Tom said, his place right
now is on the football field. He
is still playing at a champion-
ship level and was as produc-
tive as anyone in the league last
season. We are ecstatic that he
decided to continue playing
and working toward winning
another championship.”
Brady cited his desire to
spend more time with his wife,
supermodel Gisele Bundchen,
and three children when he
decided to walk away from the
game on Feb. 1. But he changed
his mind about staying home,
a day after attending the Man-
chester United match against
Tottenham Hotspur. Brady sat
with the Glazer Family, who
own Manchester United and
the Buccaneers.
His reversal sent shock
waves throughout the sports
him in Tampa in 2020. The
team lost Pro Bowl guard Ali
Marpet, who retired at age 28.
But Godwin is staying after get-
ting the franchise tag.
Brady’s decision comes right
before the NFL free agency
period begins. The Bucs have
several key players set to hit
the open market: running back
Leonard Fournette, cornerback
Carton Davis, safety Jordan
Whitehead, linebacker Jason
Pierre-Paul, defensive tackle
Ndamukong Suh, Gronkowski
and others.
They kept one of those key
Tribune News Service players when Pro Bowl center
Tom Brady announced Sunday, March 13, 2022, that he is returning to Ryan Jensen agreed to a three-
year contract late Sunday night,
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for his 23rd NFL season.
his agent Mike McCartney said
on Twitter.
world, and his teammates and
Many Hall of Fame play-
Brady’s return should im-
Buccaneers fans reacted with ers across several sports re-
pact their decisions and the
turned to playing after retir-
jubilation.
ing, including Michael Jordan, team’s plans. Tampa’s odds for
All-Pro right tackle Tristan
winning the Super Bowl went
Wirfs called it “unreal.” Receiv- Magic Johnson and Bob
ers Mike Evans and Chris God- Cousy in the NBA, Brett Favre from 25:1 to 7 ½:1, tied with
win shared their joy in emojis. and Reggie White in the NFL, Green Bay for second-best be-
hind Buffalo at 7:1, according
Guy Lafleur and Mario Le-
Giants safety Logan Ryan
to FanDuel Sportsbook.
said Brady’s return is “good for mieux in the NHL.
“We are thrilled that Tom
The Buccaneers are hopeful
football.” Rams star corner-
star tight end Rob Gronkowski has decided to come back this
back Jalen Ramsey tweeted:
“THANK YOU! throw that last also returns. Brady convinced season,” Bucs general manager
Jason Licht said. “We said we
touchdown on somebody else.” his buddy to unretire to join
would leave all options open
for him should he reconsider
his retirement and today’s an-
nouncement is something we
have been preparing for in re-
cent days.
“Bruce and I have had plenty
of conversations with Tom re-
cently that led us to believe
there was a realistic chance he
would want to come back. Tom
is the greatest quarterback of
all time who is still playing at
an elite level. With this deci-
sion now made, we will con-
tinue to move forward with
our offseason plans to reload
this roster for another champi-
onship run.”
Brady is the NFL’s career
leader in yards passing (84,520)
and TDs (624). He’s the only
player to win more than five
Super Bowls and has been
MVP of the game five times.
Brady has won three NFL
MVP awards, been a first-
team All-Pro three times and
selected to the Pro Bowl 15
times. He is 243-73 in his ca-
reer in the regular season and
35-12 in the playoffs.
He’s back to build on all
those numbers.
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT FIELD SET
March Madness brings back feel of the good ol’ days
BY EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer
Any hoops fan hungering
for a return to normal this
March might have looked at
the bracket when it finally
came out and wondered what
ever changed.
Gonzaga is the tournament’s
top seed. Kansas and Arizona
are No. 1s, as well. Duke and
Kentucky are right up there
as No. 2s and the defending
champion, Baylor, is the other
top seed and a force to be reck-
oned with again, too.
But all that sameness felt like
more of a celebration when
the pairings were set this Se-
lection Sunday, March 13. The
most-anticipated reveal of the
year felt like a party again, even
if it might have been pushed
down a notch on the ticker
by the unexpected return of
Tom Brady to the NFL in an
announcement that came just
as Dick Vitale and Co., were
starting to break down the 68-
team draw.
“This was a really special
year because we all realized
what we missed,” Villanova
coach Jay Wright said.
For the first time since 2019,
the teams will scatter across
the country to eight cities for
48 games over the first four-
day weekend of America’s un-
official hoops holiday. Then,
they will move to four cities for
the Sweet 16. And they will cut
down the nets in New Orle-
ans, where the Final Four runs
April 2-4.
It figures to be a much dif-
ferent atmosphere than in
Indianapolis last year, where
all 67 games were held in a
makeshift bubble with limited
fans. A year after COVID-19
scrubbed the event completely,
2021 offered a tournament that
put the NCAA under the glare
of the spotlight for a number of
reasons, not the least of which
was the inequities between the
men’s and women’s events.
This year, the women’s
tournament is being branded
as “March Madness,” just like
the men’s. That bracket was
revealed on Sunday, just like
the men’s. The No. 1 seeds
in that one: South Carolina,
Louisville, North Carolina
State and Stanford.
As always, there was a de-
cent-sized menu of snubs and
oversights to debate. On the
men’s side, Xavier didn’t make
it despite four wins against
teams that qualified for the 68-
team field. Texas A&M made
the final of the SEC Tourna-
ment but got snubbed, too.
Among those making the cut
were Michigan, despite 14
losses, and Indiana and Rut-
gers, which had 13 each.
The Big Ten got its fair
share of love, with a na-
tion-high nine teams, which
made it surprising to some
that the conference’s tourna-
ment champion, Iowa, was
stuck with a 5 seed.
Leading the Hawkeyes
this year is Keegan Murray,
a 23-point-per-game scorer
who is one of the best inside-
outside threats in the game.
Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji
is something rare in college
— a senior, and one who av-
erages around 20 points and
five rebounds a game and also
plays great defense. He with-
drew from the NBA draft last
season and has led the Jay-
hawks to their first No. 1 seed
since 2018.
Also, Kentucky’s Oscar
Tshiebwe, one of dozens
who switched schools via the
amped-up transfer portal that
is displaying a penchant for re-
shaping college hoops — and
college sports — in the blink
of an eye.
“It’s all about staying in the
moment and having more fun
than anybody in the tourna-
ment,” said Tshiebwe’s coach,
John Calipari.
The best way to have fun,
of course, is winning it all.
Baylor did that last year
in a title-game romp over
Gonzaga. Just like last year,
both are No. 1 seeds again,
with the Zags the 3-1 favorite
to win the title, according to
FanDuel Sportsbook.
Arizona was next at 6-1, fol-
lowed by Kentucky (17-2) and
Baylor (10-1).
“A great learning experi-
ence,” Gonzaga’s Drew Timme
said on ESPN of last year’s sec-
ond-place finish. “Obviously,
things didn’t go the way we
wanted. But it allowed for a
lot of self-growth for the pro-
gram. We’re excited for the
challenge.”
So many storylines in this
tournament will revolve
around Duke’s Mike Krzyze-
wski. The 75-year-old coach is
calling it quits after this season,
his 42nd with the Blue Devils.
He needs four wins to reach
his 13th Final Four, but the
road is not easy.
It could include a matchup
with Tom Izzo and Michigan
State in the second round, then
a trip to San Francisco for a
possible matchup with Gon-
zaga in the Elite Eight.
“It’s the last time I’m going
to be able to do this,” Krzyze-
wski tweeted after the brackets
came out, “and to be a No. 2
seed is terrific.”
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