Tom Brady, J.J. Watt Eligible for Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2028 After Retirements

The 2028 Pro Football Hall of Fame class will likely be headlined by two of the NFL’s biggest stars who announced their retirements following the 2022 campaign.

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and former Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals defensive end J.J. Watt will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2028. There’s little doubt both will be inducted as first-ballot Hall of Famers.

Brady announced his retirement from the NFL on Wednesday morning. Instead of making a lengthy written post like he did the first time he announced his retirement in February 2022, he posted a simple video saying that this time he would be hanging up the cleats “for good.”

The 45-year-old had an up-and-down 2022 season with the Buccaneers, which finished with an 8-9 record before being eliminated from the playoffs in the NFC Wild Card Round with a loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

However, Brady still had another solid season individually, completing 66.8 percent of his passes for 4,694 yards and 25 touchdowns against nine interceptions in 17 games.

Brady has often stated that he would be open to playing in the NFL until he’s 50, but after a 2022 campaign in which he dealt with numerous mental and physical challenges, it became clear that it was time for him to retire.

While the star quarterback’s career ultimately didn’t end as he would have hoped, he still closes his legendary career as the greatest of all time, having won seven Super Bowls and setting numerous records, such as becoming the NFL’s all-time passing yards (89,214) and passing touchdowns (649) leader.

Brady is also a three-time MVP, five-time Super Bowl MVP, two-time Offensive Player of the Year, 15-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro.

As for Watt, he announced his decision to retire before Arizona’s final game of the 2022 regular season. He wrote in a Twitter post on Dec. 27 that a Christmas Day loss to the Buccaneers was his final NFL home game.

The star defensive end later explained that he had known for a while that it was the right time for him to retire.

While Watt didn’t win a Super Bowl during his 12-year NFL career, he earned three Defensive Player of the Year awards, earned five Pro Bowl selections and five first-team All-Pro nods. His three DPOY awards are tied with Aaron Donald and Lawrence Taylor as the most in NFL history.

The 33-year-old ended his career having posted 114.5 sacks, two interceptions, 70 pass breakups, 27 forced fumbles, 17 fumble recoveries, 586 tackles, 195 tackles for a loss and 317 quarterback hits. He’ll undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest pass-rushers of all time.