NFL: Tom Brady will play on for the New England Patriots

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady plans to continue playing for the NFL franchise into his mid-40s.

The 40-year-old five-time Super Bowl winner confirmed his long-term career goals and said playing on for the Patriots was a “great challenge”. Quoted by Sky Sports, Brady said: “I have personal goals. I want to keep playing. 

“I’ve said for a long time I want to play to my mid-40s. I was told three years [ago], when I was 36, 37, ‘You can't keep playing; no one wins Super Bowls [at that age]’. It’s a great challenge for me. I think I’ve been challenged my whole life. I feel like I can do it.”

Brady was drafted by the Patriots in 2000 and in his 16 seasons he has played in eight Super Bowls, won the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player (MVP) award four times and been named NFL MVP on three occasions.

There had been speculation over his future in the NFL but Brady says that after much consideration with his family, he is prepared for another gruelling season in gridiron.

“Part of this off-season for me is certainly about still preparing for what is ahead in my next journey, my next mountain to climb with this group of team-mates,” said Brady. “But it is also [acknowledging] that a lot of people are getting the short end of the stick in my life - certainly my wife and my kids.

“Football is year-round for me. It is a lot of thought, a lot of energy and emotion put into it, but I need to invest in them, too. My kids are 10, eight and five. They are not getting younger, so I need to take time so I can be available to them, too.

“I’ve really spent the last two or three months doing those things, and I think I’m really trying to fill my tank up so that when I do go back, I can go back and I think I’ll actually be, in my mind, a better player, a better team-mate, because I will be really rejuvenated.”

The Patriots kick-off their 2018-2019 NFL campaign when they host the Houston Texans at the Gillette Stadium on Sunday 9 September.