Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen warned Tom Brady back in 2018 that their marriage was not working and that she needed more time, attention and support from the American football star. This is according to journalist Lars Anderson in his new biography “Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness“, which is released on September 29.
According to the book Gisele Bündchen wrote a serious personal letter to her husband after the 2018 Super Bowl, when the New England Patriots lost to the Philadelphia Eagles. In it, the model explained that their family life needed a change.
Bündchen wanted Tom Brady to be truly involved with the family when he got home, instead of constantly answering messages or mentally analyzing games. According to Lars Anderson, she also insisted on more help with the children, the opportunity to sometimes rest in the morning and more time for his own career.
A former teammate of Tom Brady, quoted in the book, also points to another source of tension. According to him, Gisele Bündchen was a huge international star in her own right, but gradually she grew tired of family life being organized mainly around her husband's football schedule.
The two also sought family therapy. According to Anderson, Brady kept his wife's letter in a drawer and periodically reread it as a reminder that he should put the same effort into his marriage that he puts into his professional career.
Football remained Tom Brady's “first love“
That line is among the central themes of the new biography. Lars Anderson describes Tom Brady's exceptional dedication to American football and the cost that his professional ambition had on his personal life. The book is based on more than 350 interviews with people from the athlete's environment.
According to Publishers Weekly, Gisele Bündchen has defined football as Brady's “first love“. The biography traces the tension between his desire for more success and his wife's expectations that he gradually devote more time to his family. Tom Brady won seven Super Bowl titles and became the most successful quarterback in NFL history.
The book also claims that towards the end of their marriage, Gisele Bündchen came to the conclusion that the two were “not compatible”. Anderson also connects the line to the model's interest in astrology, but this version comes from a source of the author and has not been confirmed by Bündchen personally.
Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady divorced in October 2022 after 13 years of marriage. They have two children, Benjamin and Vivian. At the time, the supermodel publicly stated that the two had drifted apart.
The split followed Tom Brady's decision to return to the NFL just weeks after he announced his retirement in February 2022. Gisele Bündchen herself later emphasized that his return to football was only one part of the much more complex reasons for the end of their marriage.
Today, the two have gone their separate ways. Gisele Bündchen started a new family with jiu-jitsu instructor Joaquim Valente, while Tom Brady finally ended his NFL career in 2023 and focused on television sports journalism and his business projects.