New England Patriots legend Vince Wilfork sounds shocked that quarterback Tom Brady has stayed retired since Feb. 1, 2023.

“I was still surprised he did retire because he hasn’t lost any arm strength,” Wilfork said about Brady ahead of TB12’s Patriots Hall of Fame induction earlier this week, as Nick O’Malley of MassLive shared. “It’s not like his game declined. I mean, he just walked away because he was ready to walk away. He wanted other things to do in life. He could have kept going for another five, six years. That’s just how good he was.”

Brady arguably should’ve won the regular-season Most Valuable Player Award for the 2021 campaign while with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it was teased on several occasions that the seven-time Super Bowl champion could play past his 50th birthday. However, such takes were offered before Brady reportedly lost between 15 and 27 pounds amid his divorce from Gisele Bündchen, which allegedly resulted in the Buccaneers not having “the real Tom Brady” during the 2022 season.

“Quarterbacks, you can see that arm strength leaving,” Wilfork continued. “Peyton (Manning), you could see it. Drew Brees, you saw it. But Tom, you never saw it. He still had the zip. You still can get the ball out. So for him to retire when he did, he walked out how he wanted to walk out, and I respect that.”

Despite numerous rumors and an opportunity to potentially feature for the San Francisco 49ers last fall, Brady seemingly never came close to coming out of retirement a second time. Wilfork thinks that Brady’s induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame should eliminate any idea that the signal-caller who turns 47 years old on Aug. 3 could ever take another meaningful snap as an active NFL player.

“No more unless he’s playing with his babies in the backyard,” Wilfork joked about Brady.

Brady is preparing to serve as Fox’s new lead NFL analyst during the upcoming season as he attempts to become a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. Some may always wonder how long he could’ve gone had he played “until the wheels fell off,” but that question will remain unanswered.