The NFL world was stunned Thursday morning as Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles announced Tom Brady would be stepping away from the team for an extended period of time. While the Bucs were vague in their announcement, Fox Sports Radio host Colin Cowherd speculated on the reason for Brady’s absence.
Earlier this year, Brady announced his retirement from the NFL but decided to make a comeback after just 39 days. Now, in the midst of training camp, Brady is set to miss the first two preseason games for an undisclosed reason.
“He’s going to deal with some personal things,” Bowles announced. “This is something we talked about before training camp started.”
The announcement sparked concern for the 45-year-old quarterback along with rampant rumors on social media. According to Cowherd, the absence is caused by a family issue.
“Brady is taking about ten days off,” Cowherd said on his Thursday Fox Sports Radio show. “My feeling is this is a personal matter with his family. He’s very close to his mother and father and sisters and his mom has been ill for some time.”
Brady’s mom Galynn was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer and myeloma in 2016. She was later declared cancer-free after fighting the disease for more than a year. The seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback spoke about his mom’s battle with cancer on the ESPN+ docuseries Man in the Arena last year.
Although Cowherd said Galynn Brady “has been ill for some time,” there are no current public reports that she is suffering from an illness again. Brady, however, would understandably want to keep any family medical information private.
