Tom Brady is getting candid about the sacrifices he's had to make when it comes to his family and his football career.
Tom Brady is getting candid about the sacrifices he's had to make when it comes to his family and his football career.
The 42-year-old legendary quarterback appeared on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show on Wednesday and opened up about his marriage to his wife, 39-year-old supermodel Gisele Bundchen. Brady shared that the two had issues toward the later years of his New England Patriots career, and at one point, she told him she wasn't happy in their marriage.
"A couple of years ago, she didn't feel like I was doing my part for the family," he said. "She felt like I would play football all season and she would take care of the house, and then all of a sudden when the season would end, I'd be like, 'Great, let me get into all of my other business activities. Let me get into my football training,' and she's sitting there going, 'Well, when are you going to do things for the house? When are you going to take the kids to school and do that?'"
"And that was a big part of our marriage," he continued. "I had to, like, check myself. Because she's like, 'I have goals and dreams too. It's not just doing this and this. You better start taking care of things at the house.'"
Brady ended up not participating in the Patriots' organized team practice activities in the off-season to concentrate on his family -- which includes their 10-year-old son, Benjamin, their 7-year-old daughter, Vivian, and his 12-year old son, Jack, whom he shares with his ex, actress Bridget Moynahan -- after he says Bundchen "wasn't satisfied" with their marriage and that their family situation "wasn't great." However, he acknowledged that he had resentment over it and he and Bundchen ended up going to counseling together. The two have since worked out their issues, though he now has a reminder of their rocky time.
"She actually wrote me a letter, and it was a very thought-out letter that she wrote to me and I still have it and I keep it in a drawer and I read it," he shared. "It's a very heartfelt letter for her to say this is where I'm at in our marriage, and it's a good reminder for me that things are going to change and evolve over time. What happened and what worked for us 10 years ago won't work for us forever, because we are growing in different ways."
Brady had plenty of praise for his wife and said that his life completely changed when he met her, including his desire to get married and have children in his 30s. He said the two were set up by a mutual friend on a blind date after both got out of long-term relationships, and hit it off at their first meeting at a wine bar in New York City. Last month, he shared a picture of Turks & Frogs wine bar on Instagram in honor of their 11th wedding anniversary.
"Obviously, I thought she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen," he recalled. "[My plans] changed for the better because I found a wife and a woman that I saw myself with for the rest of my life and she's been an amazing supporter in everything I've done."
He noted that it wasn't exactly love at first sight between the two because they had to get to know each other, and discussed the early part of their relationship -- specifically, when he found out that his ex was pregnant after they just started dating. Brady acknowledged that Bundchen could have left him at that point, and that it was also hard for Moynahan.
"We all made the best of the situation and fortunately, he's the most amazing son," he said about Jack. "At 12 years old, my son Jack is like, my heart explodes when I think of him. He's the greatest kid I could ever ask for."
Brady announced last month that he was leaving the New England Patriots after two decades, and will now play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As for ever retiring and going off of his famously strict diet, Brady told Stern that he doesn't have a desire to. He talked about having great admiration for the late Kobe Bryant, and said they had a similar mentality when it comes to always wanting to do one's best.
"You know, why don't I live my life the way that I want, and enjoy it in ways that I feel are the most fulfilling to me, which for me is doing what I love to do," he explained. "You don't tell a musician stop singing at the age of 42, you don't tell a great painter, stop painting at 42. Now, if you want to stop, stop. Go ahead. But for me, because I feel like I can still keep playing, doesn't mean I stop because that's what everyone else is telling me to do."
Meanwhile, for more on Brady and Bundchen's inspiring relationship, watch the video below:
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