HOW TOM & GISELE Saved Their Marriage

After enduring years of Tom Brady’s selfish behavior, Gisele Bündchen has given the NFL pro another chance

Tom Brady dropped a bombshell when he revealed in April that his marriage had almost imploded. A few years earlier, wife Gisele Bündchen wrote him a letter, he confessed in an interview with Howard Stern, telling him that she was miserable. “She didn’t feel like I was doing my part for the family,” the NFL quarterback admitted, adding that his spouse said he was more focused on his career than her and their kids, Benjamin, 10, and Vivian, 7, and Tom’s eldest son, Jack, 12, with ex Bridget Moynahan. “I had to check myself. She’s like, ‘I have goals and dreams, too.’” According to a source, the couple — who are worth a combined $600 million — “were on the brink of divorce.” Then Tom made some changes and things got better. They went to therapy, he explained, and Tom started pulling his weight at home.

But that’s not the whole story. Though “Tom and Gisele were happy again for a while,” says the source, things took a dark turn after he left the New England Patriots, where he’d spent his entire career and won six Super Bowls. “Gisele begged Tom to retire from football so that they could fully work through their issues. He kept saying he would, but totally went back on his word,” says the source, explaining that Gisele, 40, “hit the roof” when Tom, 43, announced he was signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and moving their family to Florida earlier this year. “Their relationship was in crisis again.” While those in their inner circle doubted they’d make it this time, after more fights, promises and counseling, “Gisele surprised everyone by agreeing to give him a second chance — again,” reveals the source. “They were able to save their marriage.”

AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER

Things got worse before they got better. “Friends say Gisele was so furious [about moving to Florida] that she threatened to smash all of Tom’s beloved Super Bowl rings,” shares the source. “Once she calmed down, Tom tried reasoning with her and said that moving would give them a chance to start over and that things would be different.”

Family is everything to Gisele. “She eventually went along with it,” adds the source, “but she wasn’t convinced. Tom had already betrayed her by breaking his promise to quit football, so what was stopping him from doing it again?” Though they moved into a $14 million rental home owned by Tom’s pal Derek Jeter, which is located in an incredible island neighborhood with views of Tampa Bay, adds the source, “the