It certainly hasn’t been the best year for the Patriots, and now that they’ve been knocked out of the playoffs astonishingly early, the question on everyone’s mind is: what’s next for Tom Brady?

Will he keep playing for the Patriots?

Will he keep playing at all?

In a news conference Sunday morning, the Patriots’ Brady, Bill Belichick, and Robert Kraft discussed Brady’s future and the loss for the team. Brady stated that he’s “been so fortunate to play for such a great owner and for such a great coach,” striking fear in the hearts of Patriots fans. But Belichick countered that it’s too early to discuss anyone’s future, and Kraft added that his “hope and prayer” is that Brady will come back to the Patriots next year – breathing hope back into those concerned.

But, we think their comments can use a little further interpretation. And that’s what we’re here to do…

Brady: “I think I still can play at a championship level. I’ve just got to go do it. I’m motivated to get back to work and training.”

Translation: “These losses weren’t on my back. I’m still an elite quarterback worth holding onto and paying for, and if the Patriots don’t do it, someone else will.”

Kraft: “Before the season started, it was very important to Tom that he be free to do whatever he wanted at the end of the year. You know what I said to myself? That any person who plays 20 years for this team and helps us get to six Super Bowls, and been really selfless, has earned that right.”

As if he didn’t have the right in the first place?

Translation: “We won’t fight, but we certainly might not agree on anything in the end either.”

Belichick: “I think that everybody that is part of it is an important part of it…it’s not an individual decision. There are other people involved, and so there has to be some type of communication, understanding, agreement — whatever you want to call it — and that’s not a one-way street. I hope you can understand that. One person just can’t decide what everybody else is going to do when players aren’t under contract, and we have a lot of players that aren’t under contract.”

Translation: “In my world, we’re ready to move on from Brady already. He’s going to be 43 years old next year and coming off one of his worst seasons. It’s time to put him in the past.”

The way that light and shadow work together can create some stunning effects. This includes a fair share of optical illusions that will make you do a double-take. These are some of the most interesting effects of shadows that people have seen and that we won’t forget anytime soon!

The first time you look at this photo, you might see a cute image. It looks like this dog and its owner are really close!

It’s when you start to look into the shadows that things become odd. In this image, it’s clear that the shadow in question isn’t actually a man with the head of a dog. However, it’s still striking enough that we had to do a double-take when we noticed it.

It’s funny to see how shadows can affect our perspective of something. That’s why artists often use them to guide us to add more depth to their images.

These shadows almost look like an art installation in their own right. After all, what are the odds that the shadows would line up to connect these windows so perfectly? Funnily enough, it seems like this is an illusion that the people around here probably see almost every day.

As we said, shadows and light can really alter your perspective and what you’re seeing. These windows illustrate that fairly well.

The shadows jutting away from the windows, thanks to the bars over them, almost give them the effect of sticking further out from the wall than they are. This is helped along by the bars encasing the window, offering a piece that sticks further out to create such a shadow.

When there’s trouble in Gotham City, there’s only one person you want to call. Luckily, there’s an easy and reliable way to get his attention.

What if you run into trouble outside of Gotham City, though? When you’re away from the Bat-Signal, where can you turn? If you think Batman is watching for shadows as well as lights, it seems like you might be able to use your gas cap to make a DIY equivalent in a pinch.

Not every optical illusion caused by shadows is a mistake. Just like other illusions, there are some made for a purpose, even if that is to entertain.

While this parent may not have had a magic wand to help their child experience life as a unicorn, they did have a bit of experience with shadow puppetry and left the rest up to the imagination. We have to admit, this little girl’s shadow really does resemble a unicorn!

There are some scenes that seem like they could only come out of a fantasy setting. However, there are traces of these fantastical settings in the real world.

With crystal clear and stunningly blue waters under a cloudy, bright sky, we can see why you might wonder if this is real. Yet, these aren’t islands floating in the sky and those aren’t their shadows below them. They’re actually the shadows the clouds are casting.

In places that have designated men’s and women’s restrooms, the businesses don’t always stick to simple labeling that’s spelled out or pictured on a plaque.

In this case, this restaurant decided that a clever use of shadows was the best choice. Instead of printing an “M” and a “W,” they mounted the letters above the door. With a small spotlight above, the letters case a shadow down onto the door, creating a clear label.

There are certain décor pieces that you want to stand out in a room. In these cases, a spotlight can be incredibly helpful.

On the other hand, it’s best to check and make sure that it has the effect you want before you make any final decisions. It probably would have helped to avoid quite an alarming sight, in this case. Instead of focusing on the bullhead, we can’t look away from the creepy shadow cast below.

There are few things we usually want to look at less than a spider. We have to say, though, this spider caught our eye with his weird shadow.

First of all, don’t worry — this spider isn’t levitating towards anyone. It’s simply floating in some very clear water but the shadow below does look rather odd. In every spot where the spider makes contact with the water, there’s a round shadow to highlight it.

Sometimes, you might see something that has more than one shadow. It’s caused by something being exposed to multiple light sources from at least slightly different angles.

With this piece of furniture propped against the wall, the lights hit it perfectly to create a gradient of gray shadows. You can see how the shades continue to change as the shadow gets further and further away from the object itself. We guess this would be a useful illusion if you need to decide what color gray to paint your wall!

A thorough snowfall can make your backyard look like a winter wonderland. As the sun comes out, though, it starts to fade away.

That is unless the snow is protected from the heat in some way. Luckily, it’s usually a few degrees colder in the shade rather than sitting in direct sunlight. So, these patches of snow were safe from the rays of the sun thanks to the minimal shade the tree offered.

You have to wonder how some legends start and persist. Sometimes, it comes from seeing something you just can’t explain. If you saw this in the woods, you might think you stumbled across Bigfoot himself.

Yet, this is just an optical illusion, albeit one from afar. The phenomenon is called a “Brocken Spectre” and it’s actually just a result of this person seeing their own shadow cast below them from a high altitude.

In all fairness, we all see shadows every day. So, they have to do something pretty special to stand out and really catch our eye.

As for this image, we can safely say it fits the bill. What you’re looking at is actually the shadow from the plane, not a second plane below them through the clouds. To make for an even more interesting image, the shadow is wrapped in a rainbow to boot.

There are few people at this point who aren’t familiar with the movie, Shrek. Who wouldn’t recognize the big green ogre and his donkey sidekick? When this person looked down at their shadow, they were reminded of the movie too.

More specifically, they noticed that their shadow held more than just a passing resemblance to Lord Farquaad. It was all thanks to an oddly-placed chimney behind them too, meaning they were in the right place at the right moment for this image.

There are some things that we wish we could do but just haven’t figured out how yet. Self-propelled human flight? It’s not quite in the cards right now.

Well, are you sure about that? You should be because this person isn’t actually going to float off — and they aren’t just hovering there as they check their phone. Once again, we can thank some weird shadows for this effect. Instead of below them, the shadow is shifted to the side.

This crowd of people seems like one you’d see at any school at the beginning or end of the day. Maybe it’s even a field trip to somewhere exciting. Whatever the case, we’re pretty distracted by the shadow that seems to be all by itself in this crowd.

At the very least, it doesn’t touch anyone’s figure. Not to worry, though, it’s all just caused by the person casting the shadow jumping at the moment that someone snapped this photo.

Some optical illusions don’t have to be confusing. Optical illusions can even look interesting or even feel soothing. We found this one fairly eye-catching. The way the light shone around these two coffee cups left them with a few shadows to contend with.

Because of how they were positioned next to each other, we get to see this visually engaging overlapping, Venn-diagram-esque effect. It’d definitely give us pause while making the morning coffee!

If we saw this shadow firsthand, we have to admit we’d be a bit stumped. What could possibly cause a series of crescents of light like this? The answer is actually where you might least expect it.

Behind the photographer of this photo was a tree. Still, that doesn’t explain it all. You’d have to catch this particular situation during an eclipse for the same results. Now that we know, we can see how the crescents remind us of an eclipse.

We’ve all done it from time to time. After a long day, sometimes you just leave the dirty laundry on the bedroom floor to deal with later.

As for this person, their casually tossed aside pair of jeans could almost pass for an art exhibit. After all, while it just looks like a pair of crumpled jeans from one angle, the jeans cast a shadow on the ground that looked alarmingly like a human face in profile.

If you’re playing a board game, part of the fun is left to your imagination. After all, the pieces don’t usually move around like a movie scene.

Still, there’s a reason that the use of shadows isn’t uncommon in visual storytelling, and this group unintentionally found out why. When they placed their light source lower to the ground, they cast a direct shadow from the board onto the wall, showing a still of an epic battle.

Horses can run pretty fast and it can seem like they’re fairly active animals. However, they’re fine with staying in one place for long amounts of time too.

Just like the tree we looked at earlier, this horse’s shadow protected the snow from melting. Yet, what’s really catching about it is that snow tends to melt gradually as the day progresses and gets hotter. This horse really decided it liked its spot that day.

They say that when you read a book, you can take a trip to another world, real or not. If you love to read, that’s true too!

Visually, it seems like it could happen as well. In this case, these stacks brought a cityscape to life on the walls. However, it wasn’t the setting in the story this time but sunlight streaming through the shelves at just the right angle.

Hanging glass spirals is a great way to create an optical illusion in the first place. Not to mention, they’re a pretty addition to any décor scheme. Looking at these ornaments, it seems like they make a beautiful and visually striking group of six.

The only problem is that there are only three glass pieces actually here. The other three are just shadows colored by the light filtering through the semi-transparent glass to cast a matching purple shadow each.

Darkness and shadow can make even the most mundane things seem creepy. That’s why even your pile of laundry can look sinister when you turn the light off at night. Even a glass that you use every day might seem scary if the light hits it just right.

In this case, this person probably wasn’t expecting to look over to grab their glass and see a skull stretching across their table. We’re not quite sure how this shadow lined up so perfectly.

It’s interesting to see something that seems like a rare phenomenon. There’s also just something pleasing about when circumstances line up perfectly to create a coincidence.

In this case, you probably wouldn’t expect a shadow to care about the manmade structure of the land very much unless one of those items casts a shadow itself. Here, things lined up just right to create a distinct line where the sunlight no longer reaches.

You might think that this is a bad render in a video game the first time you look at it. As it turns out, this picture is completely real!

It’s caused by a phenomenon known as Lahaina Noon. When this picture was taken, it was around noon in Hawaii, meaning the sun was directly overhead. As this happens, the direct light down on the bottle didn’t create a shadow. It’s seen a lot throughout tropical locations.

We already covered that different angles of light can affect shadows. In particular, it can give you a range of shades and placements of shadows.

As for this bench, the rectangular shape of the bench slats created an interesting illusion. When the light hit it, it created slightly offset shadows enough to make the final result cast on the ground looks like a pixelated gradient more than just a straightforward shadow of a bench.

It’s interesting to see a shadow that resembles something else. Usually, this is your brain filling in a general outline to make a conclusion as to what you’re looking at.

One thing you might not expect, though, is to see a fabric pattern cast on the ground thanks to a shadow. Once again, we can thank multiple sources of light for this optical illusion. Together, it creates a criss-cross pattern that leaves a plaid fingerprint.

This shadow is almost uncanny in how perfect it is. Most of us would have to turn to a ruler or even a computer font to label something with a number this clean.

The only thing that caused this, however, was a play of light and shadow. The person who shared it said that it shows up in their home every day. There’s one slightly annoying thing about it, though — it shows up on their floor at 2pm!

Deer, especially fawns and does, are easy to recognize. Of course, that makes sense — deer are common in a lot of places and Bambi is a recognizable character. That’s why the speckled light spots on this animal’s back would initially lead you to believe it’s a deer.

Yet, its face tells a different story. This dog doesn’t actually have any spots either, it just happened to be laying in a shadow when the picture was snapped. It helped that his fur was the perfect shade of brown, too!

If you could only see the shadow of this ladder, you probably wouldn’t agree to jump on it to complete a job. It doesn’t look sturdy, after all.

Not to worry — it’s all an illusion! The weird thing about it really is that the shadow left by this ladder is so distorted from the original shape. At least we can rest easy knowing that no one is climbing up such an unsteady ladder.

As we’ve seen time and time again, shadows can create some interesting visuals when used correctly. Some people are even talented enough to use it as a form of art.

When most of us see a sticky note, we use it to jot down a quick note before tossing it later on. Not many people even have the skill or know-how to pull off what this artist did. With a few purposeful folds, they made shadow faces with these small squares of paper.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again — check how the shadows on a display piece will fall before deciding where and how to hang it up.

Otherwise, you risk creating an effect that you didn’t originally intend to. This bull headpiece would probably have looked really cool if it wasn’t for the shadow underneath it. It looks like this bull has the body of a chicken to support it!

A shadow in just the right place can make it seem like anything is happening. It can even seem like someone made quite the invention, as it does here.

Unfortunately, we have to break the news that there isn’t a flying car hovering here, waiting for its owner to finish up their errands. It’s just another case of shadows playing tricks on us but it definitely seemed like we stepped into the future for a moment.

It’s not uncommon for stairs to have a bit of an overhang. It can give you a little more surface area to step on as you come down the stairs. There’s something interesting about these stairs, though.

Namely, they look like something straight out of an M.C. Escher artwork! You don’t have to worry about which set of stairs to take, however, since one of these “stairs” comes from some funnily positioned shadows.

Nowadays, it seems like you can get anything that you might need to buy in a designed form. Who wouldn’t want the chance to show a little individuality?

You might think that this tent came with fun bird shapes on the ceiling. That isn’t quite the case. Those are, in fact, real birds that have come to rest and walk about on top of the tent. It definitely gave the people inside a unique sight to enjoy!

There are some optical illusions that are interesting to look at or even funny to see. Conversely, some shadows can paint an unsettling picture. In this scenario, we’re not sure that noticing this shadow wouldn’t come with a yelp of fear if this were us.

While it’s only the lampshade and bulb, the shadow looks more like a Tim Burton-esque spider grinning unnaturally from ear to ear. Maybe it’s time to just readjust the lamp’s position to the light.

Most of the time, shadows show us what’s right in front of us. So, it’s no wonder that you might pause at the sight of this shadow.

You don’t have to worry about shadows showing us a glimpse of this tree’s past, though. What you can’t see in this picture — a tree that’s actually blooming perfectly lined up with this bare tree. That makes for the uncanny shadow on the wall that lets you see both.

There are some things you can’t help but sympathize with. For example, we all know how painful a bump on the head can be. You don’t have to worry about this person!

While it might look like they have a bump on their forehead, it’s actually an effect of the shadow of a thatch of curled hair. The illusion it creates is almost uncanny in appearance and would fool almost any passing viewer.

If you know a lot about cars and have a bit of an artistic hand, you can really make a vehicle your own. Just like any other canvas, you can create almost anything you can think of and have the skill to create — even a row of plant silhouettes!

As for this van, we hate to say it’s not actually a cute floral design but rather the shadow of the plants on the other side of the sidewalk.

The interesting thing about shadows is that, in some ways, they can work like vague reflections. You can sometimes tell a lot about what someone is doing from their shadow. From the bird’s eye view that this picture is taken from, you usually wouldn’t be able to see this much detail.

The long shadows cast from the side change things. They allow you to look down on the scene — or into the picture — and see a view from the side as well, in a way.

While we just said that shadows can give you a rough reflection, it isn’t always accurate. There’s a clear space for distortions.

This can come from a variety of sources including the direction the light is coming from and the shape of the surface the shadow is being cast upon. In this scenario, the shadow of this person’s face was more than a little different from what they actually look like.

Even though you’re in your car every single day, you might still not see every detail of it. There’s a lot of internal workings, after all.

It was a ray of sunlight that revealed this secret to this person. While they were helping out a friend by changing their car radio, the sun shone on it to reveal what seems like a message left behind by aliens. We wonder what it actually means.

Art isn’t always intentional. Sometimes, an artist starts to create and finds out that some of the most unexpecting things add to their artwork.

As for this piece of art, the artist shared that the shadow of their sculpture was almost more interesting to them than the original piece. We can’t blame them either. While we can’t see the sculpture, the shadow would suit Pablo Picasso’s Cubist flair. All in all, it’s a great artistic creation.

We can see the person standing here and, from this angle, it looks like they’re just another person in a jacket. Yet, the shadow says something else.

If you were to look to the ground first, you probably had a very clear idea of who you were going to look up to see. Yet, we don’t actually get to see Darth Vader standing on this street, so maybe our science fiction adventures are still to come.