Speculation that the marital issues between Tom Brady and his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen ‘blew up’ when the Miami Dolphins were hit with huge penalties for tampering with the quarterback has been branded ‘reckless’.
The couple confirmed their divorce earlier today following 13 years of marriage after privately reaching a settlement.
The amicable split comes after weeks of speculation that their romance was over with rumors swirling about what could have contributed to their problems.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio has disclosed ‘reckless speculation’ surrounding their separation.
‘There’s a theory in league circles, and I think I’m couching it properly, that the issues with Tom Brady and his wife blew up when the league announced the punishment of the Dolphins,’ he said on Barstool’s Pardon My Take on Friday.
‘Because of the flirtation with Brady, because she had, as the theory goes, no idea he was talking to the Dolphins.
Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen announced their divorce Friday after 13 years of marriage
Brady and Bundchen confirmed their divorce in Instagram statements on Friday. She said her priority had ‘always been’ the children, but said the couple had ‘grown apart’. In his statement, Brady said the decision was ‘painful and difficult’
Speculation that the marital issues between Brady and his supermodel wife Bundchen ‘blew up’ when Stephen Ross’s (above) Miami Dolphins were hit with huge penalties for tampering with the quarterback has been branded ‘reckless’
‘But I’m telling you, there are people who are employed by NFL teams who think that. And when you look at the timeline, that stuff came out, and it was the next day he started missing practices.’
The Dolphins were disciplined over ‘integrity of the game’ violations by the NFL on August 2, docking Miami its 2023 first-round pick and its 2024 third-round pick over allegations of tampering.
The announcement stemmed from a six-month investigation into the club’s ‘impermissible communications’ with Brady and now-former New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton between 2019 and 2022, according to the NFL.
In its statement, the NFL thanked the Dolphins for their cooperation in the investigation, but it was unclear what evidence was used to confirm the team’s wrongdoing.
The contact with Brady was found to have occurred during the 2019 season and postseason, when he was on the New England Patriots, and during and after the 2021 season, when he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In Brady’s case, the alleged discussions involved the future Hall of Famer becoming a limited partner with the team, according to the NFL’s press release.
Brady reversed his decision to retire only a few weeks after making the call and is playing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season.
The contact with Payton occurred through his agent Don Yee in January 2022, the league said. Yee is also Brady’s agent.
Team owner Stephen Ross, who was fined $1.5 million, removed from all league committees indefinitely, and suspended through October 17 from being at the Dolphins facility, issued a strong rebuttal to the tampering charges at the time.
It was revealed on August 11 that Brady would not return to the Buccaneers’ training camp until August 20 due to a reported pre-planned break for ‘personal, non-football reasons’.
Head coach Todd Bowles confirmed that Brady would not return until after the Buccaneers’ second preseason game against the Titans.
2009: Tom and Gisele married in 2009 first in a quiet ceremony in Santa Monica, California, and then in Costa Rica surrounded by friends and family. She was a Victoria’s Secret bombshell and he was a star player for the New England Patriots
Reports suggested the former Patriots quarterback and Bundchen were on a trip to an exclusive resort in the Bahamas, primarily for family time.
Upon his return, Brady did not give a straight answer saying at a press conference: ‘I’m 45 years old. There’s a lot of s*** going on.’
The amicable split comes after weeks of speculation that their romance was over. The couple pictured in 2017
Brady announced that he was retiring from the NFL in February, only to turn around a few weeks later and U-turn on the decision.
Many believed that Brady re-entering the NFL became a bone of contention for Bundchen. A source confirmed to DailyMail.com in late September that their physical separation was not affected by Brady’s move to rejoin his beloved sport.
On Friday, Brady and Bundchen announced their divorce. The Bucs star said it had been a ‘difficult’ and ‘painful’ decision that the pair reached after ‘much consideration’.
Gisele, 42, said: ‘To end a marriage is never easy… we have grown apart.’ She said she ‘wishes the best’ for Brady but confirmed the pair had ‘grown apart’.
‘I feel blessed for the time we had together and only wish the best for Tom always,’ she said.
Both said they would continue to co-parent their two children together.’
The couple are expected to share custody of their two children, Vivian and Benjamin. Tom also has a third son from a previous relationship. They are shown in February 2022, after he announced he was retiring. Gisele embraced the decision – but he walked back on it a month later
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