Patriots Coach Bill Belichick on Tom Brady Playing Until 50: 'If Anybody Can Do It, He Probably Can'

At age 44, Tom Brady is currently the oldest player who is still active in the NFL

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Bill Belichick had nothing but praise for his former quarterback Tom Brady.

The New England Patriots coach, 69, spoke with reporters on Wednesday ahead of their game against Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, which will be Brady's first game back at Gillette Stadium since leaving the Patriots in March 2020.

"Nothing Tom does surprises me. He's a great player, works hard, takes care of himself. He's talked about playing until 50. If anybody can do it, he probably can," Belichick said.

At age 44, Brady is currently the oldest player who is still active in the NFL. Earlier this month, the athlete told Bucs teammate and former Patriots star, Rob Gronkowski, that he could see himself playing until age 50.

"Can Tom Brady play 'til 50? Like, 50 years old? … I don't find it so difficult," he said. "Plus, in Florida, it's kind of a retiree state, so I feel like I can play and then just glide into retirement. I think I can. I think it's a yes."

Also on Wednesday, Belichick spoke about Brady's "unbelievably impressive" career so far.

"Tom's had an unbelievable career. There's not enough superlatives and adjectives to compliment him on everything that he's achieved and continues to achieve," said Belichick, who won six NFL championship titles with Brady.

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Brady won his seventh Super Bowl ring last season in his first year with the Bucs.

On Sunday, Brady and Belichick will meet on opposing sides for the first time since the Patriots drafted the quarterback in 2000.

"Certainly Tom has intimate knowledge of everything we do here more so than any other player in the league by far, so surely used to his advantage I would expect them to," Belichick said of facing off against his former player.

As for the status of their current relationship, Belichick said: "Yeah, I think it's good. It's always been good."

Much has been reported on what led to Brady opting to leave New England as well as Brady and Belichick's dynamic after they parted ways.

An upcoming book from ESPN's Seth Wickersham, titled It's Better to Be Feared, claims Brady wanted to say goodbye to Belichick in person, but the latter insisted on a phone call instead. During his press conference on Wednesday, Belichick said, "No, that's not true."

"There are a few things about this book; it sounds like it's a lot of second, third and fourth-hand comments. I'm not going to get into that. I'm going to focus on this game and try to prepare for the Bucs," the longtime coach said.