What was billed as “the greatest roast of all time” turned out to be anything but for Tom Brady, who lamented the impact it had on his three children.
“I loved when the jokes were about me,” Brady said Tuesday on “The Pivot” podcast with Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder. “I thought they were very funny. I didn't like the way it affected my children.
“So it's the hardest part; the bittersweet aspect of when you do something that you think is one way and suddenly you realize 'I wouldn't do that again' because of the way it actually affected people.” people I care about more or less in the world.”
Brady's comments came at the end of the 56-minute podcast, when Taylor (his teammate with the New England Patriots in 2009 and 2010) asked him if he learned anything about himself from the barbecue.
Taylor's question was asked more in the context of his connection with his teammates and how it seemed to reflect the bonds formed in the locker room over the years, but Brady focused on his children Jack, Benjamin and Vivian.
“In some ways, going through this makes you a better parent,” he said. “Sometimes you're naïve. You don't know, or you're a little bit like, 'Oh, shit.'
“I love it when people make fun of me… I just want to laugh, so I wanted to do the roast. You just don't see the whole picture all the time. So I think it's a good lesson for me as a parent. I'm going to be a better father as I go forward because of this.”
Brady added: “At the same time, I'm happy that everyone who was there had a lot of fun. And I think for me, other than that, it's always good 'if we're not laughing at things, 'you're crying.' “I think we should have more fun. We loved laughing in the locker room. Let's do more of that and love each other and celebrate other people's success. That, to me, gives everyone a lot of hope.”
Part of the podcast focused on how May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Brady acknowledged how he's doing in that area.
“I'm just doing my best to check in on myself as often as possible: my physical health, my mental health and my emotional health,” he said. “It's something I'm working on. Every year I think I start something a little different.
“I think last year I wanted to rebuild my body because I lost a lot of weight last season. It was a challenge. This year there's a lot of work. I think next year I'm really going to settle down.” towards a better and more sustainable pace of life among all our responsibilities. When is it too much? When is it not enough? You're juggling all these balls in the air and certainly for former athletes, we never know what it's like. “We'll go when we retire.”
Brady revealed another aspect of retirement that has challenged him.
“Sometimes I feel like I'm in a washing machine right now, not quite sure where I'm going, what the schedule will be like. The structure, the habits, are positive for us at different times; when not “If you don't have that, you bounce, you're like a ping-pong ball too,” he said, acknowledging that “it's not really in my focus right now.”
“I feel like naturally, as a quarterback, I was in control. I loved flying the plane, being the operator. I think what you realize in life is that you don't have as much control. What do I need to do more of?” in my life? I need to be better with less control. I need to be better at operating in that gray area. “I can't be so anxious when things aren't going exactly the way I want.”
