Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers star quarterback Tom Brady said on the latest episode of his podcast that he's "still going through the process" and hasn't decided when he'll reveal his plans on whether to play or retire.
"Sometimes it takes some time to really evaluate how you feel and what you want to do," Brady said on Monday's episode of his Let's Go! podcast with NFL receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray. "I think when the time's right I'll be ready to make a decision one way or another, just like I said last week."
Asked whether he has a timeline, Brady responded: "I don't know. I'll know when the time is right. Like I've always said, I'm very blessed to play as long as I have. As things have gone on in the later parts of my career ... there's a lot of interest in when I'm going to stop playing. I understand that. When I know, I'll know. When I don't know, I don't know. I'm not going to race to some conclusion about that."
Brady's comments are his first since multiple outlets reported Saturday that the seven-time Super Bowl champion planned to retire from the NFL after 22 seasons.
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The 15-time Pro Bowl quarterback knew the NFC divisional game against the Los Angeles Rams would likely be his last, according to ESPN, and the three-time NFL MVP spent time after the loss preparing for an official announcement.
ESPN also reported that it remained unknown when Brady would formalize his plans to enter retirement, but he wouldn't do it to upstage the league's remaining postseason games, including next month's Super Bowl.
Brady's longtime agent, Don Yee, released a statement Saturday to address the reports.
"I understand the advance speculation about Tom's future," Yee said. "Without getting into the accuracy or inaccuracy of what's being reported, Tom will be the only person to express his plans with complete accuracy. He knows the realities of the football business and planning calendar as well as anybody, so that should be soon."
When asked on the podcast if he was surprised about the retirement reports, Brady said: "It's always a good line that I'm responsible for what I say and do, and not responsible for what others say or do. I think one thing I've learned about sports is that you can control what you can control, and what you can't, you leave to others.
"We're in such an era of information and people want to be in front of the news often and I totally understand that. I understand that's the environment we're in. But I think for me, it's literally day to day with me. I'm just trying to do the best I can every day, evaluate things as they come, and I'm trying to make a great decision for me and my family."
Brady also noted that he's enjoying "decompressing" since the Buccaneers' season ended, though he mentioned a desire to still be playing in the postseason.
The Buccaneers suffered a 30-27 loss to the Rams in the NFC divisional round on Jan. 23. Tampa Bay was attempting to win the Super Bowl for the second consecutive season.
