What does Tom Brady want? Everything.

I once asked an out-of-town newspaper friend about a colleague of his, “Kenny,’’ a talented, respected sports columnist. What’s he like, I wanted to know.

“Kenny doesn’t want to be a great columnist,’’ my friend said. “Kenny wants to be a star.’’

That long-ago conversation bubbled to the surface recently while I was thinking about Tom Brady, who is treating retirement from football like another product launch. Apparently, being the winningest quarterback in NFL history isn’t enough for him. He wants to be a star.

Wait. He already is a star.

What does he want then?

Wealth? Brady made $317 million as a player and many millions more as a product hawker. But you know what they say: You can never have enough butlers.

Beauty? It looks like he’s made it his life’s work to maintain his youthful good looks until he’s 200.

Fame? Ah, there it is. Tom Brady doesn’t want to be famous. He wants to be more famous. He wants to be seen and heard, vividly, loudly and as often as possible.

Some people are scared to death of fading away, which is what death will do to you. It’s a good explanation for what drives Brady. He’d prefer immortality, but he’ll settle for long-term celebrity.

The former Patriots star allowed himself to be the butt of all jokes in Netflix’s recent “The Roast of Tom Brady,’’ which was hosted by comedian Kevin Hart and featured former Pats comrades Bill Belichick, Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman. Brady’s 2022 divorce from supermodel Gisele Bündchen, who is dating her jiu-jitsu instructor, was a popular subject during the roast.

“Tom Brady. Five-time Super Bowl MVP, most career wins, most career touchdowns,’’ comedian Nikki Glaser said. “You have seven rings — well, eight, now that Gisele gave hers back. The only thing dumber than saying yes to this roast was when you said, ‘Hey, babe, you should try jiu-jitsu.’ ”

Good question, though: Why did Brady say yes to three hours of abuse? Because he can laugh at himself and because he can laugh all the way to the bank. Mostly, though, it’s because he has an insatiable appetite for the spotlight. Given all his heat-seeking activities since retiring after the 2022 season, it seems clear that Brady played until he was 45 not just because he was a fierce competitor but because he loved that spotlight. Everything he did during his football career and everything he’s done since it ended point to someone who wouldn’t mind being a Kardashian someday.

He produced and appeared in a movie, last year’s “80 for Brady,’’ about four friends (Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Sally Field and Lily Tomlin) who have made it their “life-long mission” to meet Brady at the Super Bowl. One online reviewer called it “an existential nightmare indescribable to any sane men who dare to watch it.’’ I want to meet this guy.

Brady has a 10-year, $375 million contract to be Fox Sports’ lead NFL game analyst. He’ll begin work this season. Maybe. In a podcast interview last month, he said he was “not opposed to” the possibility of playing in 2024 for a contender that has lost its quarterback to injury. The not-so-innocent remark somehow lit up social media, the eternal forest fire, even more.

This is a man who knows how to keep himself in the public eye.

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is a fellow attention glutton who has gotten hold of Brady’s playbook. He’s dating someone famous (Taylor Swift). He seems to be in every other TV ad. He’s selling his own line of pre-made barbecue meals at Walmart, fare that wouldn’t make the cut for Brady and his anti-inflammatory TB12 diet (health products available for purchase online!). Still, Brady has to be impressed with Kelce’s entrepreneurial spirit.

Figuring out how to remain popular is a game, and Kelce and Brady know how to play it. So does former NBA star Dwyane Wade. It’s probably not a coincidence that all three athletes have (or have had) famous, successful women in their lives to tell them how to get in People and Forbes, not just Sports Illustrated. Wade is married to actress Gabrielle Union.

But there’s always work to be done, and I hope Brady is paying attention. Kelce and his brother, former Eagles center Jason Kelce (also not shy), were an answer on “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune’’ the other day. Krysten Ritter, the actress who finally solved the puzzle, said she had no idea who the brothers were. She even mispronounced “Kelce.’’

Becoming a name in every household is hard.