To borrow from a bat: The G.O.A.T. lived long enough to see himself become the villain.

You loved him. Really, you did. You then hated him. Today, your feelings are probably somewhere between those two poles, but you do have strong feelings.

However you remember Tom Brady — as the greatest underdog story ever; as the most annoying winner ever; as the champion of champions or the weirdest of eaters — you are right. Until yesterday, Brady refused to walk out of our lives, which meant he evolved in front of our eyes. We saw the worst. We saw the best. We saw every moment, which makes this moment the most jarring.

For one last time as a player, Brady allowed fans into his world, his suspiciously full head of brown hair blowing in the breeze on a beach when he announced: “I’m retiring. For good.”