Tom Brady has opened up about his role as a father to his three children following ex-wife Gisele Bündchen’s pregnancy announcement.
During New York City’s Fortune Global Forum, the 47-year-old NFL star candidly admitted he hasn’t always been the best father to his kids. Brady shares 17-year-old son Jack with ex Bridget Moynahan, as well as son Benjamin, 14, and daughter Vivian, 11, with Bündchen.
“Being a parent is probably the hardest job all of us have and we screw up a lot,” the former New England Patriots star said in a video from the November 12 event. “And I’ve screwed up a lot as a parent.”
Brady and Moynahan, who dated from 2004 to 2006, welcomed their son Jack in 2007. He then became a father again to Benjamin and Vivian during his marriage to the Brazilian fashion model, which lasted 13 years following their divorce in 2022.
According to the football star, he doesn’t pretend to be “some expert in parenting.” Nevertheless, he’s devoted his life to his children and ensured that he’s someone they can depend on.
Brady went on to explain that some of his parenting techniques are lessons he picked up from his own parents, Galynn and Thomas Brady. The retired athlete remembered how his mother and father showed him unconditional support when he started to doubt his dreams of making a career out of football.
“When I was that long shot as a kid, who was the backup quarterback on a freshman team, they never said, ‘Man, don’t do that. It’s gonna be too hard. Let’s do something different. Let’s think about another backup plan,’” Brady recalled. “They kind of said, ‘You know what? Go for it. Whatever you wanna be, go for it.’”
The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback shared that his son Jack has his sights set on becoming a professional basketball player, and he plans to offer his eldest son the same encouragement that Galynn and Thomas gave him. However, he also recognized the challenge that both Jack and Benjamin face being compared to their father.
“To be a boy, it sucks to be Tom Brady’s son in so many ways and I try to empathize that with them,” Brady said. “My kids naturally are gonna be faced with their own challenges, and they gotta figure out how to overcome them, too. And I’ll be there to support them a lot like my parents did. And I’ll be learning along the way right there with them.”
While Brady is focusing his attention on his three kids following his retirement, Bündchen is preparing to welcome a new baby of her own with her boyfriend Joaquom Valente. The runway model’s pregnancy was confirmed by People on October 28.
