TOM:I DID IT for Gisele
Tom Brady gives up football to focus on his kids and marriage to Gisele Bündchen
He made it clear he couldn’t have done it without her. In a Feb. 1 Instagram post announcing his retirement and giving thanks to those who helped in his epic journey, Tom Brady saved his biggest expression of gratitude for his wife, Gisele Bündchen. “Our family is my greatest achievement,” he wrote. “I always came off the field and home to the most loving and supportive wife, who has done EVERYTHING for our family to allow me to focus on my career.”
But now it’s time for Tom to focus solely on his family. “He’s finally putting them before the other great love of his life, football,” a source 9, with Gisele, and Jack, 14, with exgirlfriend Bridget Moynahan. “He owed it to them to quit, especially Gisele, who for years has pleaded with him to retire. They need time to heal. He did this for her.”
HIS SUPPORT SYSTEM
Gisele had told him how unhappy she was. “She didn’t feel like I was doing my part for the family,” Tom, 44, said in 2020, adding that work consumed his time, while Gisele, 41, had given up her supermodeling career to hold down the fort at home. “She’s like, ‘I have goals and with our marriage.”
They went to therapy, but he still “had a hard time giving up football,” says the source. Tom even made the risky move from his longtime team, the New England Patriots, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. He went on to win a record seventh Super Bowl, becoming the oldest player ever to do so. “Gisele’s selflessness,” Tom says, “allowed me to reach new heights professionally.”
And, in the end, he gave it all up for her. Says the source: “Gisele just hopes he’s as excited about this new chapter in life as she is.” ◼