The NFL pro also talked about the importance of giving back, following his participation in a charity golf event.
Tom Brady wishes he had more time to spend with his family. ET's Rachel Smith spoke to the 44-year-old quarterback following IWC Schaffhausen's charity golf event, and the pro athlete reflected on the guilt he feels over how his career has meant time away from home.
The seven-time Super Bowl winner and his wife, Gisele Bündchen, share two kids, Benjamin, 12, and Vivian, 9. Brady also has John, 14, from a previous relationship.
"Being available to your kids is really important... I feel like I'm so driven to succeed in football and that's taken me away from other important priorities, which are my kids, my wife," Brady told ET. "She's really held it down for our family. I'm super grateful that she really committed so much of her time the last 14 years to make sure everything was so stable at home, so I could go live my dream. I look back at my parents, and my dad and mom did the same thing for me."
"I do feel, maybe, some guilt that I haven't been able to do that in the same way for my kids, but I'm doing the best I can do," he added. "I'm trying to be really conscious and aware of that, and then when I do have the time to spend with them, I'm really present."
Rather than focus on the guilt he sometimes feels, Brady focuses on being present during the time he does get with his family.
"We're all trying to make it through our challenging lives, and we have priorities, and we have jobs, and relationships... I think prioritization has been the key for me," he said. "I want to try to spend my time with, when I'm focused on my job, my job, when I'm focused on my family, my family. All those things I'm trying to get better and better at."
It's a balancing act he'll have to continue into the next year, as Brady announced he's coming out of retirement to play another season in the NFL.
"It's still some time to get to that point," he said of the start of the season. "I feel like I'm still kind of getting my body where it needs to be. It's a big commitment. I think the best part about doing it is always doing it with your teammates. I've got a great group of teammates."
Also in the pipeline for Brady is 80 for Brady, a sports comedy film that the athlete appears in alongside Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, and Lily Tomlin.
"I was so nervous. I swear to God," Brady said of filming his scenes. "They said, 'Action!' and I went completely blank. I was like, 'What do I say?'"
"It was a fun experience. I learned a lot. I'm hoping people really enjoy it. I think the best part was working with those four women," he added. "... You see those groups of people come together on a movie set and they develop this really close knit bond and everybody's got this amazing job to do. I know we're gonna come up with something special, so hopefully people really love it. It's gonna hopefully be finished by maybe the end of the year."
On Wednesday, though, Brady was focused on IWC Schaffhausen's charity golf event in Miami, Florida, which raised money for social programs in the Miami area. On the links, Brady teamed up with fellow IWC ambassador and Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton. Football running back Marcus Allen and Dibia DREAM founder and CEO Brandon Okpalobi made up the second team.
"It got a little more competitive than friendly after a while, 'cause we really wanted to win that thing," Brady said of the event. "... It was fun, obviously. I love being with Lewis. I love being with Marcus. He's been a friend of mine for 20 years. And Brandon, who's got a great foundation out here, helping kids. IWC put this all together. It's a fun weekend in Miami... I'm a Florida boy too. I enjoy the easy trip across the state."
As for the importance of giving back, Brady said, "A lot of people need help and attention. There are a lot of important causes."
"We obviously get a lot of publicity for our sport. We enjoy doing that as athletes, but I think there's other stuff we care about too, and over the years have supported a lot of different areas," he said. "... You just commit time, you commit resources to it and you change people's lives. Beyond the playing field, you try to do things in the community to help people accomplish their dreams too."
"I couldn’t be where I'm at without the support of a lot of people that came into my life at certain times," Brady added. "I think you just try to provide that for other people. I think, in my second career, I'll do a lot. I'll have a lot more time and energy to do those types of things."
For more of Brady's exclusive interview, watch this evening's Entertainment Tonight.
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