Tom,

You probably didn’t read my first open-letter. And that’s cool, really, it is. I think most famous people don’t read open letters directed to them, especially if not from fairly untrafficked obscure blogs. And we’re not really (or actually at all) friends in real life, or even on Facebook for that matter. You’re probably more of an instagram guy anyway.

Anyhow, after my last open letter to you, which was also my first open-letter to anyone (so you should feel quite honored), I did ask you to consider retiring to work on your marriage. But later it came out that the decision to go that direction had been made prior to my appeal. So I got that by the time my letter would have reached you, that ship had already sailed.

The season ended up, actually better than I had anticipated. I didn’t expect to make the play-offs, so getting one extra game, albeit an embarrassing one, was still kind of cool. I remember watching Dan Marino’s last play-off game, the one where he got blown out by the Jaguars so many years ago. You made the right decision. It was time.

I’m looking forward to hearing you in the booth. Greg Olson is doing a great job, but don’t feel the need to compare yourself with him. You’re not the next Greg Olson, you’re the next Tom Brady, right? At least that’s what your Under Armor commercial with Morgan Freeman preached to us.

It’s probably too late to do much relationship repair with Gisele. But probably doesn’t mean certainly, so just wanted to throw that out. You’ll surely put in a lot of time with your kids. If you have time to read them The Jesus Storybook Bible, I cannot imagine that you would regret it. Not that it’s a huge draw for you, but Carrie Underwood also read it to her kids. It’s really good. It reminds us that the scriptures tell of one story, of one Redeemer, who came to do what we could not do.

And I just thought that coming from you, the one who could do anything on the football field, until he couldn’t, it might just carry a lot of weight. But yeah, its a good read, and steers us away from the legalistic add-ons so prevalent in less than accurate gospel depictions rampant today. There’s something really refreshing about God’s grace.

It looks like its on sale now at the above link. Or if you’re in Bradenton, we do have some copies at our church that we could give you. Just let me know ahead of time because sometimes I work from home.

Tom, I’ll be honest, this may be my last letter I write to you in what’s likely been a one-way conversation. But then again, you did retire, un-retire, and the re-tire again so you kind of see why I can’t say for sure what I’ll do in the future.

I’ll probably write again if you really get into trouble with the whole FTX Crypto fiasco. If I do forget though, please make sure you check out Psalm 40. It’s gold. U2 wrote a song about it. Although there are other psalms which deal with desperate situations caused by us or caused by others. I love this about the Psalms: there’s always one for the occasion.

I hope that in the back nine (that’s my new expression for both of us since we’re both on the back nine holes of life) you find Jesus. But I’ll pull for you in the booth regardless. Thanks again for the great 3 years Tom.

Geoff