While the details remain sparse and the rumors run rampant, it’s clear that Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is dealing with some big issues off the field as he prepares for his 22nd NFL season.
Brady’s offseason was dramatic enough considering he retired only to un-retire a month later. But then he took a sustained absence for personal reasons last month during training camp. While Tampa Bay has downplayed the absence, Brady returned to say that “there’s a lot of sh*t going on,” which only made people wonder even more what it was about.
Then came a report from Pagesix.com, which said that Brady’s wife Gisele Bündchen had left their family compound in Tampa after several heated arguments over his return to the NFL after retiring. They also reported that Gisele returned to Florida but the two “have not reconciled.”
Monday, on his ‘Let’s Go’ podcast, Brady talked openly about how getting older changes the way you prepare for an NFL season and move through the world.
“As you get older, life changes quite a bit,” said Brady. “There’s different responsibilities that take form in your life. There’s different perspectives you gain.
“When I was 25, all I did was think about football. That was my life. It was eat, sleep, drink football. It was my profession. It was my career. Over time, other priorities develop because you change and evolve through life and you grow in different ways. You take on these different responsibilities of family and commitments so forth and you commit time and energy to those things.”
Brady did mention his children and his parents, though he very notably did not mention his wife.
“You can’t stop your life even though sports is happening. Even though I’m playing in my 23rd year, I have a freshman in high school that’s playing football, too,” he said. “I have a 12-year-old that is going through his life.
“I have a 9-year-old that is going through her life. And I have parents, and I have a lot of things that are really important, off-field pursuits and goals that you’re trying to maximize as well. Once football season comes, I really lock in on what I need to do and how I need to focus and the kind of commitment I need to make for the organization, so we can maximize out potential as a team.”
Brady mentioned everyone in his family except Gisele 👀 pic.twitter.com/jzd2TDPVBu
— Lucy Burdge (@LucilleBurdge) September 6, 2022
Even if the Buccaneers win the Super Bowl this season, you have to wonder if Brady is going to look back on his decision to unretire as a mistake. It’s not as though he has anything left to prove on the field, and certainly not at the expense of his family life.
[CNN]
