Tom Brady Did Not Mention New England Patriots In Retirement Announcement, Later Shares Gratitude Via Social Media

BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady officially announced his retirement on Tuesday morning, sending out a lengthy Instagram post to break the news that had already broken over the weekend. The future Hall of Famer used eight slides on Instagram to make the announcement and thank a whole bunch of people.

But there was a rather large group missing from Brady's announcement. And a rather important group at that, most of whom had the biggest impact on Brady's 22-year career in the NFL. That would be the New England Patriots, the franchise that Brady spent two decades with and brought six Super Bowl banners.

Brady thanked his Buccaneers teammates for a fun two years. He thanked Bucs fans, the city of Tampa and the St. Petersburg region.

"It has been wonderful to be a resident of such a fun place to live. I want to be invited to our next boat parade!" Brady wrote.

He thanked the Glazer family and Tampa Bay GM Jason Licht. He even thanked Bruce Arians, whom he reportedly didn't get along with all that much during his final season. He thanked Bucs coaches and staffers, and, of course, Alex Guerrero. He thanked his agent, his parents, and his wife and kids.

But nowhere in the announcement was any mention of the New England Patriots or New England fans. Ouch.

There was no thank you for Robert Kraft or Bill Belichick. No mention of any of his former Patriots teammates or the New England fans. Brady obviously put a lot of thought into the announcement, and the New England omission is no mistake.

A couple of hours after Brady announced his retirement -- and after Patriots fans reacted strongly to being left out of the announcement -- Brady did send a quick message of thankfulness to the Patriots via his Instagram story. Brady shared Tuesday's statement from Robert Kraft and wrote, "Thank you Patriots and Patriots Nation. Beyond Grateful and Love You All."

Shortly after that, he tweeted the same message:

He also responded to a Patriots photo that the team put out, via his Instagram story:

Brady also did send out a long and heartfelt goodbye to the Patriots when he left New England in 2020, thanking Kraft, Belichick and the entire organization. Maybe he is waiting to make a longer Patriots-centric statement this time around. There are rumblings that he may even sign a one-day contract so that he can retire as a Patriot, and maybe he's planning a much bigger thank you for New England. It would be fitting, considering he spent 20 years of his life with the team and in the region.

But for now, the initial omission was a puzzling exclusion in one of the most important announcements in Tom Brady's life.

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