Braves: Tom Brady Should Have Gone out like Chipper Jones

As Tom Brady announces his decision to move on from the New England Patriots, we compare his ending with Atlanta Braves legend, Chipper Jones.

It’s becoming more-and-more rare to see a player spend their entire career with one organization as Chipper Jones did with the Atlanta Braves.

But I love to see someone like Chipper and Derek Jeter finish where they started. I can’t picture either of those players in a different uniform.

I know John Smoltz is the biggest competitor in the world, but it killed me to see him finish his career in a Red Sox and Cardinals uniform. If he just would have hung it up after that 2008 season as a Brave, that would have been a much more fitting end to his career — in my opinion.

And I know Smoltz didn’t start in the Braves’ organization, but he did spend 20 of his 21 big leagues seasons in Atlanta.

That’s why I think Chipper is so much more loved by Braves’ fans than the big three (Smoltz, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine). Those pitchers all spent time with other teams.

There is just something unique about spending an entire career with one team, and fanbases feed off that.

It’s why fans want the Braves to go ahead and extend Freddie Freeman right now to make him a Brave for the rest of his career. I don’t want to see Freddie Freeman wearing a different uniform.

Fans know that in order for that to happen, the player has to love the city, sometimes take less money, and sometimes end their careers before they want.

Chipper could have taken more money to play somewhere else over his career, and he probably could have played a few more seasons. He hit .287 with an .834 OPS in his final year.

The reason I bring all this up is because Tom Brady just announced he’s no longer going to play for the New England Patriots.

I’m not a huge NFL fan, but I can’t imagine seeing Tom Brady play in a different uniform.

The NFL example of this would be Brett Favre who couldn’t hang it up and ended his career playing with different teams.

And on the flip side, can you imagine Troy Aikman play for a team other than the Cowboys?

From a fan perspective, I hate this. Like with Smotlz, I understand the desire to want to continue to compete as long as you feel like you can, but as a fan, this is just a terrible way to go out.

Brady was supposed to walk out of Gillette Stadium with the crowd shouting his name and his jersey going up on the ring of honor (or whatever the Patriots do).

Again, obviously it’s Brady’s decision and I can’t fault him for this. But this is a fan-site, and as a fan, I’d much rather see him go out the same way Chipper did with the Braves.