Perhaps some of this thinking should be the marketing line for the league come this August/September, when the league resumes play.

For the most part, one player alone can't really carry an entire sport. Some might say Michael Jordan did that for the NBA some time ago -- especially with three additional titles when returning to the league after a stint when he tried to be a baseball player.

Now, Brady will look to make his un-retirement a thing.

The trouble is, he isn't the same age that Jordan was when he came back.

Sure, Brady will be 45 years old -- no spring chicken for any professional athlete anywhere. But there is this: Brady, at age 44, led the league in touchdown passes and passing yards this past season. One has to figure that all that was considered for a return.

He started all regular-season games, then brought his team back from a 27-3 deficit against the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional playoff in the fourth quarter to achieve a 27-27 tie, with 42 seconds remaining in the game.

And TV fans were happy. Nielsen ratings for that divisional game were up 10% to 38.9 million viewers versus the year before.

If Brady is able to come anywhere near this performance next season -- as well as a playoff game or two -- what will those Nielsen numbers be like?

Better yet, add in another big-name quarterback. Aaron Rodgers will also be in the hunt for another postseason run. Then imagine a game --- regular-season or playoff -- where Rodgers battles Brady.

And what if he is not quite up to snuff? Figure in that his team needs improvements and to stay healthy, and then, he just needs to perform with few mistakes. Even with a nagging injury, Peyton Manning was able to do this in Super Bowl 50 in 2015 with the Denver Broncos.

That's a lot of "ifs." Now back to some facts.

NFL regular-season ratings were up 7% to average 16.3 million viewers -- when virtually all other live sports, as well as non-sports live TV events of any type -- including the Oscars, Grammys and Emmys -- continue to show declines.

Do you think marketers and TV networks are happy that Brady will be back next season?

No matter what happens, we'll gladly take the hits.