Tom Brady addresses family situation, decision to unretire originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
There’s a lot on Tom Brady’s plate these days.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback suggested as much last week following his 11-day hiatus from the team, telling reporters, “I’m 45 years old, man. There’s a lot of s— going on.” There’s been speculation that Brady is having some marital trouble, with the New York Post’s Page Six reporting that his wife, Gisele Bundchen, is upset with Brady’s decision to return for a 23rd season after initially retiring in February.
Brady did not address that speculation head-on but did discuss the struggles of balancing football and family Monday on a new episode of the “Let’s Go!” Podcast with Jim Gray.
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“You can’t stop your life even though sports is happening,” Brady told Gray. “Even though I’m playing in my 23rd year, I have a freshman in high school that is playing football, too. I have a 12-year-old that is going through his life. I have a 9-year-old that is going through her life.
“And I have parents, and I have a lot of things that are really important, off-field pursuits and goals that you’re trying to maximize as well.”
Brady has two children with Gisele — Benjamin, age 14, and Vivian, age 9 — and a 15-year-old son, Jack, from his previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynihan. Retiring would have allowed Brady to spend more time with his family, but after leading the NFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns last season, the seven-time Super Bowl champion said he simply couldn’t walk away from the game.
“I just felt like I had a little left, and I wanted to give it a shot,” Brady said of his decision to retire in March. “I owe it to my teammates and our great coaches and our whole organization.”
Brady has said many times that he wants to play until the age of 45, and he’ll accomplish that goal this season while hoping to avenge the Bucs’ NFC Divisional Round loss to the Los Angeles Rams last winter.
Whatever Brady is dealing with off the field, it sounds like he’ll be fully committed once the Bucs begin their regular season this Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.
“We all have different things that are going on. And I think once football season comes, I really lock in on what I need to do and how I need to focus, and the kind of commitment I need to make for the organization so that we can maximize our potential as a team,” Brady added.
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