Tom Brady Jokingly Announces NFL Retirement In April Fools’ Day Tweet; Golden Tate & Others React

Around the NFL, sighs of relief were heard on Monday as Tom Brady announced his retirement.

The 41-year-old New England Patriots quarterback was already planning to skip voluntary workouts for the second year in a row. In the additional free time that he was given, he joined Twitter under the handle @TomBrady and tweeted out “I’m retiring. In my spare time, I’ll be tweeting #LFG.” Then, most readers checked the date and saw that it was April 1, or April Fools’ Day.

Tom Brady Joins Twitter, Pulls April Fools’ Day Prank

Despite having strong followings on Instagram and Facebook, Brady never delved into Twitter. The tweet was a perfect introduction for him to the social media network. It garnered attention and was retweetable. Brady joining Twitter on April Fool’s Day and then sending out a fake retirement tweet is the peak of April Fool’s Day on the platform.

Some fans weren’t paying close attention and lost it. Even the Patriots reacted to Brady’s post.

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The Patriots would’ve been in a rough spot had it not been April 1. They just watched star tight end Rob Gronkowski retired over social media and to lose him on top of Brady would’ve been a major dent. Of course, a little over an hour later, Brady tweeted, “Was this a bad joke?”

In the wake of his tweets, Brady’s gotten an introduction to Twitter. Golden Tate made sure to hit him up for a follow even though he didn’t wind up in New England and Donte Stallworth, who played with the quarterback in 2012, simply wrote, “Welcome to hell, @TomBrady.” The Patriots are coming off their sixth Super Bowl victory, all of which have come in the Brady-Bill Belichick-Robert Kraft era that started in 2000.