Thank goodness that’s over with.

Yes, Tom Brady has now officially retired with his lengthy Instagram post on Tuesday morning.

Of course, this whole retirement thing wasn’t without drama. Because over the second half of his career, either through his own doing or that of others, Brady was Mr. Drama. That can often come with being the greatest NFL football player of all time, or at least the greatest quarterback with an unfathomable seven Super Bowl titles and five Super Bowl MVPs.

It was how a retirement should not be done. Everyone knew Ben Roethlisberger was hanging it up before he formally announced it on social media – the way these things are done now; his inability to throw a ball more than 30 yards downfield was the dead giveaway, like it was for Peyton Manning.

But Brady still had plenty left in the tank. Yet the whispering began prior to Tampa Bay’s 30-27 loss 10 days ago to the Super Bowl-bound L.A. Rams in the Divisional Round that this could be it. Then his lack of verbally committing to next year afterward. Then came Friday night’s CBS report that he was leaning toward retirement, followed by the ESPN reports Saturday that he was definitely done, followed by damage control denials, etc. etc.

Then…Tuesday morning’s Instagram announcement, similar to another Tuesday morning in March of 2020 when he said he was leaving the Patriots.

Then…The Snub.

Brady’s long near 1,000 word good-bye to the NFL did everything but mention the Tampa Bay cafeteria cooks. But it didn’t have a sniff of anything Patriots, be it fans, teammates, coaches, or owner.

Ooopsie.

For many here, it’s a big deal. Sports talk radio was abuzz. Fans are mad, or fans are telling other fans to calm the you-know-what down. You have to admit, it was curious, and any retirement announcement should have included the place and franchise he won six Super Bowls for and spent 20 years of his career. You wonder why it didn’t. Brady over the past few years – especially after the ridiculous DeflateGate saga – has become very calculating in everything he does.

You probably won’t see Brady return for one of those foolish one-day contract signings so he can retire a Patriot, unless Patriots owner Robert Kraft coaxes him into it. But that doesn’t seem Brady’s style. While he’ll have to likely wait five years to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, it’s possible those who do the voting will opt to drop the waiting period for the New England Patriots Hall of Fame and induct him this summer or next fall.

Either way, at least there’s finally an answer as we had nine days of suspense. The franchise and fans really screwed here isn’t New England, it’s Tampa Bay, because it’s no longer Tompa Bay. It goes back to being a plain old NFL team, probably back to being a lousy one.

Of course you wonder why Brady decided to hang them up, but it seems pretty clear he felt it was time to spend more time with his family. Or, well, they told him it was time. Probably more of the latter.

The NFL won’t be the same. We saw some amazing quarterback play the last couple of weeks, so the league will still certainly survive. Brady changed football in New England; the Patriots became must-see TV or a must have ticket. A nation – heck, almost a whole world – cared about what happened to the Patriots, love them or hate them.

And after he left Foxborough, suddenly we all kept an eye on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It’s too bad he didn’t mention New England, but it’s even sadder that Tom Brady no longer calls NFL football his profession. A job he was better at than anyone before him, or those who will come after.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.