Tom Brady made winning the Super Bowl look easy at times. Now he faces the pressures of ever-evolving fatherhood. Even for the most accomplished player in NFL history, being a father is still “a challenge,” he admits.
“Every parent knows that being a good parent is a challenge,” Brady said during an interview with Stephen A. Smith at Fanatics Fest NYC on Friday. “I have a lot of things that keep me busy, but I still try to be a great dad and be there for my kids.”
Brady shared that he often doesn't hear from his son Benjamin, 14, his son Jack, 16, or his daughter Vivian, 11, unless they want something.
“Every time they call me, I know there is a request because when they don't call, I don't hear from them. And when I don't hear from them, I know they don't want anything,” he said.
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Tom Brady in his final NFL game against the Dallas Cowboys in an NFC Wild Card game at Raymond James Stadium on January 16, 2023, in Tampa, Florida. (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
One silver lining for Brady in watching his children grow up is that they now have a better understanding of why he has spent so much time away from his family throughout his career. Brady played in the NFL from 2000 to 2022.
Now, after a year away from the game, Brady will take over as lead NFL commentator on FOX this season.
“They start to appreciate it as they get older and start to have the responsibilities of an adult,” Brady said. “When you're working hard to be a parent and also to support the family, that means being a little bit away and really focusing on work.”
Brady's career and time away from his family unexpectedly extended into 2022, and this preceded his divorce. In January of that year, Brady said on his Sirius XM podcast “Let's Go!” that taking hits on the field at the time was not ideal for him or his marriage to Gisele Bündchen.
Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates with Gisele Bündchen after winning the Super Bowl at Raymond James Stadium on February 7, 2021, in Tampa, Florida. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
“My wife is my biggest supporter. It hurts her to see me get hit. She deserves what she needs from me as a husband, and my kids deserve what they need from me as a father,” Brady told host Jim Gray at the time. “We think we're going to live forever. We're not. We think we're going to play forever. We're not.”
Then, just 40 days after announcing his retirement in February of that year, he revealed he would return for another season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bündchen, the mother of two of his three children, filed for divorce that same year.
TOM BRADY'S CURSE HAS 'AFFECTED' HIS CHILDREN AND 'DEEPLY DISAPPOINTED' GISELE BÜNDCHEN: REPORT
Brady and Bündchen's divorce was the subject of a very personal joke on Netflix in May. The special included jokes from comedians Nikki Glaser and Kevin Hart about Brady and Bündchen's divorce that referenced her rumored affair with her jiu-jitsu teacher while she and Brady were still married.
Nikki Glaser mocks Tom Brady. (Getty Images)
Brady later said the event affected his children and he does not plan to do another barbecue.
“I didn't like the way it affected my kids,” Brady told former NFL players Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder on the “Pivot Podcast” on May 15.
“So the hardest part is the bittersweet thing of when you do something that you think is one way and then all of a sudden you realize you wouldn't do it again because of how it affected the people that I care about the most… Like I said, when I signed up for that, I love it when people make fun of me.”
Former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady stands with his daughter Vivian during a ceremony honoring Brady at halftime of New England's game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium on September 10, 2023, in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
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Brady did not specify which pranks affected his children.
Benjamin and Vivian are Bündchen's children. Jack, whose full name is John “Jack” Edward Thomas Moynahan, is Brady's son from a previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan.
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