Tom Brady will return to aggressive football, kind of.
The seven-time Super Bowl successful quarterback was introduced on Monday as the headliner for a new flag football occasion that includes each energetic and retired NFL gamers that can happen March 21, 2026 — in Saudi Arabia.
According to Fanatics, the sports activities merchandiser partly behind the occasion, Brady will make his “first official return to the field” since retirement by collaborating in a three-team round-robin tournament to be broadcast by FOX Sports and performed beneath the similar five-on-five format to be used when flag football makes its Olympics debut in 2028, on a 50-yard field. Whether which means Brady will formally be throwing passes for the first time since 2023 wasn’t explicitly spelled out. But every crew will probably be coached by an energetic NFL coach: Las Vegas’ Pete Carroll, Denver’s Sean Payton and San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan.
Active NFL gamers Christian McCaffrey of San Francisco, Sauce Gardner of the New York Jets, CeeDee Lamb of Dallas, Saquon Barkley of Philadelphia, Myles Garrett of Cleveland, Tyreek Hill of Miami and Brock Bowers and Maxx Crosby of Las Vegas all have been introduced as collaborating, although how a lot every would take part on the field in the offseason occasion was not detailed.
The Saudi Arabia-backed occasion is co-organized by Turki Al-Sheikh, the chairman of the nation’s General Entertainment Authority, and is the newest piece of sports activities actual property bearing the imprint of the 44-year-old.
He has spearheaded a marketing campaign by the ruling Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to assist soften the nation’s picture on the world stage with quite a few entries into world sports activities, from the creation of LIV Golf, a competitor to the high U.S. males’s golf tour, to the nation’s 2021 takeover of the Premier League soccer membership Newcastle by way of a sovereign wealth fund. The Women’s Tennis Association will maintain its season-ending last in Riyadh in November. Human-rights organizations have criticized the high-profile investments in sports activities as attempting to distract from the nation’s human rights file, a follow described as “sportswashing.”
Al-Sheikh’s involvement in sports activities to this level has been largely restricted to fight sports activities, with The Athletic describing him earlier this 12 months as “boxing’s most powerful figure.” Last 12 months, Al-Sheikh, who had already served as matchmaker for enormous bouts, additionally bought one among the sport’s oldest media retailers, The Ring journal. Al-Sheikh, together with UFC President Dana White, helped promote the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford megafight on Netflix on Saturday.
Now, Saudi Arabia will function a backdrop for flag football as the sport features extra relevance forward of its Olympic debut. When NFL homeowners approved active NFL players to take part in the Olympics throughout a spring vote, the inexperienced gentle drew hearty approval from gamers throughout the league.
Brady and Al-Sheikh stood collectively on the field inside the Las Vegas stadium earlier Monday to announce the deal.
The famously aggressive Brady didn’t appear prepared to deal with the occasion as a stakes-free exhibition.
“I will be bringing home the trophy,” Brady stated in a ready assertion.