FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Tom Brady's tweet on Thursday night that set social media on fire and sparked questions about his football future turned out to be a preview for a Super Bowl commercial.
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) January 30, 2020
"They say all good things must come to an end, so to my teammates, my family, and my fans, you deserve to hear this from me," Brady said in the advertisement as dramatic music played, teasing the possibility of a big football announcement before shifting course and touting Hulu, a subscription streaming service.
Brady concluded the ad by saying: "So it's time to say goodbye to TV as you know it. But me? I'm not going anywhere."
That was possibly a reference to Brady's plans to play a 21st NFL season in 2020. The 42-year-old Brady, who has spent his entire career with the New England Patriots, is scheduled to become a free agent for the first time in his career on March 18.
On Sunday, Brady attended Super Bowl LIV as part of the league's 100-year pregame celebration and shared a picture on Twitter that included head coach Bill Belichick and former Patriots Rob Gronkowski, Randy Moss and Adam Vinatieri.
Pats Nation ❤️ pic.twitter.com/bcUThqGsGF
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) February 2, 2020
As for the advertisement, which aired near the end of the first quarter, Hulu spent roughly $7.5 million on the 30-second spot, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal.
"It was pretty fun," Brady said of the commercial during his pregame interview on Westwood One radio. "I'm glad everyone enjoyed it. My daughter loved it. She says to me, 'Daddy, we're not going anywhere.' I thought it was so cute. She gave me a big hug."
The ad was filmed in four hours in December at Gillette Stadium, and Hulu shot two endings, according to the WSJ, with the second ending having Brady saying: "See you next season."
In his Westwood One interview, Brady said any decision about where he plays in 2020 isn't likely to come for a while. Of the Patriots, he said, "What a great two decades it's been. I think they know how I feel about them, and I know how they feel about me. We've always had a great relationship. We always will.
"There's not much more to say other than that. There's a lot, again, that everyone needs to take some time to evaluate where they're at and the decisions they need to make moving forward. The Patriots will do that. Every team will do that. The players who have the opportunity to be free agents will do that. And then when the time is right, I guess in six weeks from now, everyone will be able to make their decisions."
Brady added that he has had conversations with the Patriots, which he described as normal.
Brady said he was throwing the football recently, and while he enjoyed attending the Super Bowl to meet with some of his boyhood idols, "for the most part, I look forward to the season ending and moving on to the offseason and trying to get back to work to improve the things I can do next year.
"I don't certainly want to take away from anything that is happening today," he said, in reference to the Super Bowl. "There's a lot of speculation, a lot of people who don't have any information. I haven't put too much thought into those things, other than understanding the situation I'm in, which I knew I was going to be in at the beginning of the year -- and just taking these things day by day.
"Again, the reality for me is the season didn't end that long ago. There's still time to decompress a bit, and that will happen, and continue to happen, after the season. I'll take those days as I need them, and deal with the different emotions. And, ultimately, when the time comes to decide what's next, that's what I'll do."