Tom Brady: Retired… AND LOOKING FOR LOVE!
AFTER A DISASTROUS END TO HIS COMEBACK SEASON, THE FOOTBALL GREAT IS CONTEMPLATING HIS NEXT MOVE.
TOM BRADY isn’t used to being a loser. But the Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB lost big to the Dallas Cowboys Jan. 16, leaving the seven-time Super Bowl champ out of the playoffs. “I’m going to go home and get a good night’s sleep, as good as I can tonight,” the 45-year-old said after the loss. “It’s just been a lot of focus on this game so, it’s going to be one day at a time, truly.”
He has some decisions to make. After a turbulent year that saw the California native retire, then unretire, and the very public demise of his 13-year marriage to Gisele Bündchen, the dad of three faces an uncertain future. As a free agent, he can continue his life on the field or, if he retires — yet again — he can focus on his tattered personal life. “Whatever he chooses, Tom wants to spend more time with his kids and to get his breath back after all the personal strife he’s been through,” an insider tells Star.
LOOKING FOR LOVE Don’t expect the University of Michigan grad to become a player off the field. “There’s no shortage of women who would love to date him and he’s already had friends willing to set him up,” says the insider. “He’s not going to go for just anyone. He wants to settle down as opposed to dating around.”
He may be a little out of practice. “His love life has been nonexistent since his split from Gisele,” notes the insider, adding that suitable candidates should be as fierce about fitness as he is. “He still believes in love and romance in spite of the hurt Gisele caused him,” says the insider. “He’s ready to f ind that special someone.”
By all accounts, Tom is a family man (though he left his ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan when she was pregnant with their son, John, now 15). After being set up on a blind date with Gisele in 2006, the pair married three years later. Son
Benjamin, 13, and daughter Vivian, 10, soon followed. Tom often credited the Brazilian supermodel for holding down the fort at home so he could excel at work. “It takes an amazing partnership,” Tom once said of balancing family and his grueling schedule. “I have an amazing wife who’s always looking out for our kids, always looking out for our family.”
Of course, taking a backseat to her husband is exactly what caused Gisele to exit the marriage. “I’ve done my part, which is [to] be there for [Tom],” the 42-year-old told Elle in September, before declaring, “And now it’s going to be my turn.” She and Tom
were divorced a month later.
NO GOING BACK Retirement or no, one thing is off the board: reconciling with his ex. “He knows she’s not coming back and is just taking it step by step as far as communication and coparenting with her goes,” says the insider. “He’s upset they split but wants her to be happy.”
She certainly looked that way jogging with hunky jiu-jitsu instructor Joaquim Valente in Costa Rica in early January. The pair sparked dating rumors after they were spotted on vacay there just two months prior. “She insists they’re just friends,” says the insider. “She wants to have fun with him and enjoy being free and single without any labels or expectations.” H