Ever since Tom Brady joined the Bucs in March of 2020, there have been stories and speculation about where else he could’ve gone. Even after he led Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl in his first season with the team, the discussions persisted.

Did Brady really want to be in San Francisco?

Who was the mystery team he referenced during his interview on LeBron James’ ‘The Shop’?

Was his relationship with then-Bucs head coach Bruce Arians diminishing down the stretch in 2021?

Did he retire earlier this year in hopes of orchestrating a move to be a player, owner or player-owner in Miami? The Dolphins were even punished earlier this month for tampering with Brady, so they clearly wanted to work something out.

And, of course, the latest has been UFC President Dana White’s story about having a deal in place for Brady and Rob Gronkowski to join the Raiders in 2020, only for then-head coach Jon Gruden to shoot it down. That story, of course, has everyone connecting the dots with the aforementioned mystery team Brady mentioned on ‘The Shop.’

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

Brady, for his part, has largely stayed out of all of the speculation and talk. But after Saturday night’s preseason finale, the seven-time Super Bowl champion spoke to the media for the first time since early on in training camp. Since his last press conference, he took a pre-planned 11-day hiatus from the team and the Raiders story broke. So, to close out his press conference, Brady reflected on his time with the Bucs.

“Since I came to this organization, it’s been an amazing experience for me to come to this place and be as supported as I have over a long period of time,” Brady said. “I read all these stories about all these different places I was supposed to go or could’ve gone, and I’m like, ‘I was only going to go to one place, which was here.’ I think this whole organization knows that. All the conversations that we’ve had over period of time, I chose the right place for me.

“And [I’m] very proud of the effort everyone’s put in to make the relationship work. Joel [Glazer]’s been amazing. Jason [Licht]’s a great friend of mine. Bruce, Todd [Bowles], all the coaches… It’s been an amazing relationship and I’m very grateful to everybody for allowing me to come down here and experience this part of my football life, which, I look back and it would probably be incomplete had I not had it. So, I’m happy I’ve had it.”

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

So, there you have it.

Brady is happy with his decision to come to Tampa. And why shouldn’t he be? He threw for 4,633 yards and 40 touchdowns in 2020 before earning his seventh Super Bowl ring. Last year, he posted 5,316 yards and 43 touchdowns in an MVP-caliber season.

Now, after one of the crazier offseasons in recent memory, Brady enters his age-45 season and his third year with the Bucs looking to handle some unfinished business. Tampa Bay’s 2021 season came to an end in crushing fashion, with the Rams handing them a loss in the NFC Divisional Round at Raymond James Stadium. The Bucs had erased a 27-3 deficit, but a late coverage breakdown made their comeback moot.

Los Angeles went on to win the Super Bowl, and that left a bad taste in the mouth of anyone associated with the Bucs. Brady, whose recent time away from the team became a big story externally, was succinct when asked Saturday night about where his focus is heading into the team’s Sept. 11 season opener in Dallas.