Tom Brady Takes Swipe At Ex-Wife Gisele Bündchen Over Divorce In Letter About Being A 'Great Parent'
Bündchen was said to have advised Brady to retire from football, citing concerns for his health and the need for him to spend more time with her and their children.
Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen have since split, with the supermodel going on to welcome a child with her boyfriend Joaquim Valente.
Tom Brady Takes A Dig At Gisele Bündchen In Newsletter
Brady seemingly took a swipe at his supermodel ex-wife Bündchen while reflecting on their family life in a newsletter shared with fans.
The NFL legend tied the knot with the Brazilian-born beauty in 2009 but split in 2022 amid what seemed to be disagreement over Brady's retirement from football.
At the time, Bündchen repeatedly hinted that she was unhappy at how Brady focused on the game at the cost of their family, and this was seemingly made worse after he came out of retirement.
Brady has now shared that he saw his career as a major part of being a good father to his children, which is quite the opposite of how Bündchen saw it.
"I think part of being a great father is being a great example of doing what it takes to take care of your family," Brady wrote, per the Daily Mail. "I chose to do it by playing football."
He continued: "My dedication to the sport, the hours of practice, the moments when I was laser focused - those were times when I believe I was doing the best possible thing for my family and my kids, by prioritizing my profession and teaching, by example, what it takes to be really good at your job, what it takes to follow through on commitments, what it takes to be a great teammate; and showing them, also by example, that work is a big part of all of our lives."
Tom Brady: 'Reading Bedtime Stories' And 'Helping With Homework' Are Not The Only Ways To Be A 'Great Parent'
While he was still active on the field, Brady often heaped praise on Bündchen for being a solid rock for their family.
The pair share two children: Benjamin and Vivian, while Brady has another son, Jack, from a previous relationship with Bridget Moynahan.
Now, in his letter, he seemingly teased that either of their individual efforts may not be the "only ways to be a great parent."
"Remember, your children are watching everything. They see what you do in every aspect of your life and how you do it," he said. "Reading bedtime stories and helping them with homework are not the only ways to be a great parent. And neither is winning Super Bowls or MVPs."
Brady added, "Being a great football player didn't make me a great dad, but how I became a great player certainly had an impact - from showing up day in and day out, to doing whatever it took to get better, be successful, be a role model, and to provide."
The NFL Star Admits No One Is 'Perfect'
Brady finished up his letter by admonishing fans to give themselves more grace, as nobody is "perfect."
"You won't be perfect. Nobody is," he said. "You will fail and disappoint people along the way. But if you stay committed to your goals over time, even when your priorities shift (which they do at times), then you can be confident that you are living a life of integrity and purpose."
"Your actions reflect your priorities. That's what you need to live up to every day," he added.
Did Gisele Bündchen Want Tom Brady To Stay Away From Football?
Bündchen allegedly disliked Brady's continued participation in sports and reportedly advised him to retire the first time, as she feared for his health and wanted him to spend more time with the family.
"Obviously, I have my concerns - this is a very violent sport, and I have my children, and I would like him to be more present," she told Elle in September 2022. "I have definitely had those conversations with him over and over again. But ultimately, I feel that everybody has to make a decision that works for (them). He needs to follow his joy, too."
Since their split, Brady and Bündchen have faced some issues, especially when their marriage was put on blast during his Netflix roast last year. He has since described the show as his "f-ck up" as a parent after seeing the impact it had on his kids.
Tom Brady Regretted His Netflix Roast
Speaking about the effect of the Netflix roast on his family, Brady appeared to express regret, noting how hard it was on his children.
"It was tough on my kids for sure," Brady said during an appearance on the "Impaulsive" podcast when asked if he regretted doing it. "You don't know what to expect, and I love laughing at myself; it felt like I was in the locker room. And the harder people go at me, I'll actually love it."
"If people make fun of you, then I know I'm good with them. And I don't take myself too seriously, but I do understand that for my kids, that was really hard," he continued.
Brady then added, "There are some things as a parent you f-ck up and you don't realize until after. We're not perfect parents. There's no perfect manual for it, and you have to evaluate yourself as a parent too, all the time."
Bündchen has since started a relationship with boyfriend Joaquim Valente and welcomed her first child with him earlier this year.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ajax new boy Oscar Gloukh welcomes the pressure: 'It gives me goosebumps, I can't wait for the first match'
Oscar Gloukh recently gave his first Ajax interview. The Israeli spoke to the club's media about the type of player he is and had particular praise for the infamous 2018/19 team. The 21-year-old playmaker was officially presented at Ajax on Friday evening, and spoke plainly about his on-field traits. 'I love dribbling, passing, scoring, and providing assists,' were the first words of the newest signing, who didn't hesitate for a moment when Ajax announced their interest. 'I wanted to go straight away because I want to play for teams that are going for titles.' Apparently, Ajax already had their eye on Gloukh during his time at Maccabi Tel Aviv. 'We had discussions back then, and I really wanted to go. Ultimately, I left for Salzburg. But now I'm here, and I feel great. This club is huge.' In his teenage years, Gloukh often watched Ajax, he says. The 2018/19 season, in which they reached the Champions League semifinals, is especially etched in memory. 'Dusan Tadic was one of my favourite players. He was a real leader. I also thought Frenkie de Jong was a great player. They made history back then.' In Amsterdam, the new number 10 is following in the footsteps of Tadic. He realises that comes with pressure. 'I know Dennis Bergkamp played with that number too. There's a lot of pressure on me to perform. But I love it. It gives me goosebumps. I can't wait for the first match.' GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'Fawning' is Gen Z's new fight-or-flight response
Meg Josephson, a therapist, used to be a people-pleaser. The author of "Are You Mad at Me?" said Gen Zers can also struggle with people-pleasing. She said growing up online can heighten feelings of rejection and hypervigilance. Meg Josephson grew up as a people-pleaser. Raised in a home she describes as volatile, she remembers monitoring her father's reactions, desperately trying to smooth tensions over. "Being a perfectionist and being kind of always on was very protective for me," Josephson told Business Insider. "It was the one thing in my control to kind of keep my dad's moods at bay." Once she left home, however, she realized that people-pleasing was her default response, even when no one was actually mad at her. It was when she started going to therapy herself that she learned how much she relied on the fawn response to fear — placating instead of entering fight, flight, or freeze. Healing from her fawning inspired her to become a therapist. Now, she said, many of her Gen Z clients and social media followers seem to especially struggle with people-pleasing. "Social media and digital communication have played a huge, huge, huge role in the Gen Z fawn response," Josephson said. Online life magnifies rejection and makes it so much easier to seek validation, meaning Gen Zers with people-pleasing tendencies can get stuck in a never-ending, approval-hunting loop, she said. Josephson titled her upcoming book "Are You Mad at Me?", out August 5, because she hears it so often in everyday conversations. Luckily, being a people-pleaser isn't a fixed trait, she said. Even Gen Zers can shed that identity — if they're willing to let it go. Warpspeed rejection The classic precursor for people-pleasing is if you were If being raised in a dysfunctional environments or by emotionally immature parents. contributes to people-pleasing behavior, That wouldn't make Gen Zers are not a unique generation. Reactive or abusive parents have existed forever. Still, it's the online world Gen Zers grew up in that primes them to feel abandoned more often, triggering a need for reassurance that their relationships are stable. "There are so many ways to connect now, and because of that, there are so many ways to feel forgotten," Josephson said. While past generations were limited to in-person interactions, letters, or phone calls, Gen Zers can feel validated — or rejected by — so much more. Their best friend not "liking" their Instagram photo. A crush leaving their DM on read. A group of their friends posting a Snapchat without them. This can lead them to fawning, which Josephson considers "almost a more modernized threat response" compared to fight or flight. An unanswered text may not be frightening enough to trigger physically running away, but it can pressure someone to send more clarifying texts in the frantic hope that their friend isn't upset with them. The fawn response, at its core, is "I need this external validation to know that I'm safe," she said. To complicate matters even more, online life is both rife with posts about how people should behave and opportunities to be misunderstood. "We don't hold a lot of room for nuance because we want digestible, short, snappy information," Josephson said. She said one of the first steps to healing is realizing that we're all inundated with high expectations, heightening "this ridiculous standard that we hold ourselves to internally." An endless supply of reassurance Perpetual people-pleasers might fall into a common trap: rampant reassurance-seeking. It can look like texting "Are you mad at me?" to a friend or asking your partner if they're still into the relationship. Validation-seeking can become a cycle because "we're getting this relief for a split second," Josephson said. But done in excess, it can strain relationships, she said. Disorders like relationship OCD, for example, can manifest as constantly needing positive feedback from a romantic partner — an ultimately unsustainable dynamic. Some people ask the group chats to weigh in on their Hinge date, post about their friends in anonymous forums, or even consult ChatGPT. Still, Josephson said that too much outsourcing is a bad idea. AI, in particular, is a dangerous crutch. ChatGPT "does have the intelligence to validate, but because it's not a real relationship with a real person, there's a limitation," Josephson said. The chatbot may empathetically respond with all the reasons your friend probably isn't mad at you, but probably won't tell you that you're asking that question way too often. How to ditch the people-pleaser label There are over 140 million TikTok posts about being a people-pleaser. While social media posts can help identify and relate to a problem, they can also nudge people into viewing their people-pleasing as a permanent personality trait. Josephson said that she works with clients to move away from labels that can keep them stuck. "It's not an identity, but rather it's a self-protective pattern," she said. "It's this younger part of you that has learned to be on high alert to manage people's moods as a way to protect you, but that doesn't mean you always need protecting now." One of the best starting points is pausing — putting the phone down or taking a beat in the middle of a heated conversation. A moment of mindfulness, "even if it's just for 10 seconds," can help you acknowledge the fear without immediately reacting to it, Josephson said. "If you're oversharing because you want to feel understood, pause. What do you actually want to say, versus what's coming from a place of fawning?" Done consistently, this practice becomes the stepping stone for other habits, like tolerating discomfort in a conflict or setting boundaries. You might still end that pause in the same place — worrying that you've unknowingly angered someone. The difference is in what you'll do next. Read the original article on Business Insider Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
🚨 BREAKING: Wolves complete move for AZ's David Møller Wolfe
Wolves have added further quality to the senior team after losing key names this summer, with the club confirming a completed deal for AZ and Norway left-back David Møller Wolfe. After the loss of Rayan Aït-Nouri to English giants Manchester City, the Midlands club needed an established presence on the left side of the back line under Vítor Pereira, with the 23-year-old arriving at the Molineux in a deal worth just under £10m (€11.5million). A defensive stalwart at AFAS Stadion across two seasons in the Eredivisie, making 92 appearances for De Kaasboeren across all competitions and helping the club remain a top-five presence on the domestic front. The twelve-time capped defender will link up with compatriot Jørgen Strand Larsen, who joined the club on a full deal from Celta de Vigo earlier in the summer window. 📸 Alex Bierens de Haan - 2025 Getty Images
