Tom Brady’s Most Honest Quotes About Fatherhood While Raising Kids Jack, Ben and Vivian

Credit: Phelan M Ebenhack/AP/Shutterstock

Tom Brady’s Most Honest Quotes About Fatherhood While Raising Kids Jack, Ben and Vivian

Finding his way. Tom Brady may have football down to a science, but being a dad sometimes poses challenges. "I love playing football. I love coming to work every day," the athlete told ESPN in December 2012. "But also, being at home, and giving those boys my attention, and my affection, and my discipline, and being a good parent is so important, because I grew up with two of the best parents a son could ever ask for." Brady cemented himself as the GOAT of the NFL after playing for the New England Patriots for 20 years. He won six Super Bowls as the quarterback of the Massachusetts-based team before he joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. The 199 Productions owner went on to win Super Bowl LV with the Bucs in February 2021, and fans began to wonder whether he would take a step back from the sport to be with his kids. “Beyond [next year’s season], I don’t know,” Brady told the Wall Street Journal Magazine in September 2021 of his future in the NFL. “Maybe it’s another year after that; maybe it’s two. I’ll have to see where I’m at with my family. That’s probably the overriding factor — what I’m missing out on.” Brady briefly retired in February 2022 but changed his plan weeks later. Through all of his career highs and lows, his now ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen, and his three kids have been Brady’s biggest fans. [jwplayer Sr1pOoT8-zhNYySv2] The TB12 cofounder shares Benjamin and Vivian, born in December 2009 and December 2012, respectively, with the supermodel, whom he wed in February 2009. Brady is also the father of son Jack, whom he welcomed with ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan in August 2007. Us Weekly confirmed in September 2022 that Brady’s brief retirement put pressure on his marriage to the Brazil native. One month later, the pair announced they had finalized their divorce and were no longer together. In February 2023, the 80 for Brady producer announced he was retiring from the NFL “for good” and made sure to thank his family for their support over the past 23 seasons. In his retirement announcement, Brady shared multiple photos with his children on the field over the years via Instagram. Ahead of his step back, Brady reflected on his own upbringing in August 2019 while speaking about his sons in an interview with Men’s Health, noting that Jack “loves” sports, while Ben has different passions. “[Jack] wants to try hard, and he never wants to disappoint his dad,” the quarterback told the magazine at the time. “That was me. I’d wake up early on the weekends to do stuff with my dad. That’s why I didn’t party a lot. If Dad wanted to golf, I wanted to be there with him. And if I ever missed those things, it would crush me.” Scroll down for some of Brady’s most heartfelt parenting quotes:

Credit: Phelan M Ebenhack/AP/Shutterstock

Tom Brady’s Most Honest Quotes About Fatherhood While Raising Kids Jack, Ben and Vivian

Finding his way. Tom Brady may have football down to a science, but being a dad sometimes poses challenges. "I love playing football. I love coming to work every day," the athlete told ESPN in December 2012. "But also, being at home, and giving those boys my attention, and my affection, and my discipline, and being a good parent is so important, because I grew up with two of the best parents a son could ever ask for." Brady cemented himself as the GOAT of the NFL after playing for the New England Patriots for 20 years. He won six Super Bowls as the quarterback of the Massachusetts-based team before he joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. The 199 Productions owner went on to win Super Bowl LV with the Bucs in February 2021, and fans began to wonder whether he would take a step back from the sport to be with his kids. “Beyond [next year’s season], I don’t know,” Brady told the Wall Street Journal Magazine in September 2021 of his future in the NFL. “Maybe it’s another year after that; maybe it’s two. I’ll have to see where I’m at with my family. That’s probably the overriding factor — what I’m missing out on.” Brady briefly retired in February 2022 but changed his plan weeks later. Through all of his career highs and lows, his now ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen, and his three kids have been Brady’s biggest fans. [jwplayer Sr1pOoT8-zhNYySv2] The TB12 cofounder shares Benjamin and Vivian, born in December 2009 and December 2012, respectively, with the supermodel, whom he wed in February 2009. Brady is also the father of son Jack, whom he welcomed with ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan in August 2007. Us Weekly confirmed in September 2022 that Brady’s brief retirement put pressure on his marriage to the Brazil native. One month later, the pair announced they had finalized their divorce and were no longer together. In February 2023, the 80 for Brady producer announced he was retiring from the NFL “for good” and made sure to thank his family for their support over the past 23 seasons. In his retirement announcement, Brady shared multiple photos with his children on the field over the years via Instagram. Ahead of his step back, Brady reflected on his own upbringing in August 2019 while speaking about his sons in an interview with Men’s Health, noting that Jack “loves” sports, while Ben has different passions. “[Jack] wants to try hard, and he never wants to disappoint his dad,” the quarterback told the magazine at the time. “That was me. I’d wake up early on the weekends to do stuff with my dad. That’s why I didn’t party a lot. If Dad wanted to golf, I wanted to be there with him. And if I ever missed those things, it would crush me.” Scroll down for some of Brady’s most heartfelt parenting quotes:

Credit: ERIK S LESSER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Girl Dad

Brady joked in December 2012 that he was “in trouble” after he and Bündchen welcomed their baby girl earlier that month. "I grew up in a house with three sisters. I think it's great for my boys to have a girl in the house, just to understand at least a little bit about what makes a woman tick — not that I can certainly figure that out, because I can't,” he told ESPN at the time. “She's a beautiful little girl."

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It’s All About Juggling

“[With] three kids ... you’re just always trying to juggle and you want to be there for them and you want to be there for the hockey games and the soccer games, but you also realize the level of commitment it takes to give as much as you can to the team that needs you,” the University of Michigan alum said during a March 2018 appearance on Good Morning America. “I think most professionals probably feel the same way. Sometimes it gets out of balance and you’ve got to figure out how to bring it back to a point where it feels great for everybody involved.”

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Super Bowl Success

Following Brady’s Super Bowl LII win with the Patriots in February 2019, the athlete wanted to celebrate with his loved ones. “I can’t wait to just spend some time with my family, my kids and my wife,” Brady said during a post-game interview on CBS. “I couldn’t do it without their support. It’s just been a great year. I’m so happy for my teammates. It’s a dream come true for all of us.”

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Embracing Ben’s Passions

“When Benny came along, I thought he would be just like [my son] Jack … [who] is just like me. So I was like, ‘C’mon, let’s do this.’ And he was like, ‘Nope.’ And I was like, ‘What? No, do this!’” Brady said during an August 2019 interview with Men’s Health of not understanding why Ben didn’t like sports. “And Gisele kept saying to me, ‘Would you effing understand that your son is different?’ It was hard for me. I was like, ‘What do you mean? He’s a boy; he should do all these things that I do.’”

He added: “The reality is that Benny just likes different things. And it’s great because now I just have to go do what he wants to do. When we do that, we have the best time. He’s like, ‘OMG, Dad, you’re so funny.’ He loves joking, and I joke back.”

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Vivian Is His ‘Voice of Reason’

Brady revealed in March 2021 that his daughter was not pleased when he threw the Vince Lombardi trophy from one boat to another while celebrating Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl win. “Who could imagine that an 8-year-old girl would have the most sense of anybody in that whole area at the time?” the California native told James Corden after a clip from the boat party revealed Vivian yelling at her dad to stop. “She’s the voice of reason. I mean, go figure. It was really cute.”

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Doing the ‘Best’ He Can

“My wife has held down the house for a long time now,” he said during an October 2021 episode of his SiriusXM “Let’s Go!” podcast. “She hasn’t worked much in the last 10, 12 years while raising our family and committing to a life in Boston and then moving to Florida [when I signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers]. That’s an issue.”

Brady explained that his job has made it harder to take that weight off of Bündchen’s shoulders. “I don’t want to miss any of the kids’ stuff. … It’s a little teeter-totter from time to time, and I’m trying, like all of us, to do the best we can do based on the circumstances,” he added.

The California native noted that he felt lucky to have more time off than many other parents. “Football players, we get a good, healthy off-season. I try to do my best with the kids,” he said. “I wish I was there more, but I think if I was there too much, they might be sick and tired of me screwing everything up that’s been going on in the house for a long time.”

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His ‘Greatest Achievement’

When Brady briefly retired from the NFL in February 2022, he issued a statement to his fans, teammates and his loved ones for their continued support.

“To my wife, Gisele, and my children Jack, Benny and Vivi,” he began his message. “You are my inspiration. Our family is my greatest achievement. 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. … I am beyond words [over] what you mean to me and our family.”

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Following Their Dreams

"What I'd wish for my children is to find something that they really love to do like I have, but I think I have taken it to an extreme too,” the professional athlete confessed during an April 2022 episode of his series Man in the Arena. “You know, I hope they don't take things as far as I've taken them. I want them to experience great success in whatever they do, but there's a torment about me that I don't wish upon them."

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‘Not as Good as’ His Dad

“There’s a big commitment that your parents make, and my dad made every commitment to me,” the TB12 Method author said of his “amazing dad,” Tom Brady Sr., during an April 2022 episode of Man in the Arena. “There was never a moment where he didn’t have time to support what I wanted to do and try to achieve because it’s a hard thing to do. … When I think about being a dad, I think about him because of what my dad meant to me. I know I’m not as good a dad to my kids that my dad’s been to me.”

Credit: Courtesy Gisele Bundchen/Instagram

Quality Time Together

In June 2022, Brady opened up about his favorite memories with his children. "That's the thing, we don't have to do much. I think it's not about where we're going. It's just us all," the athlete exclusively told Us Weekly at the time. "My son had a school trip to Italy and if someone says, 'What was your favorite trip about Italy?' I would say the time I was in the car with my two sons."

He continued: "They were wrestling for like five straight days in the car. And every time I got in the car, I was like, 'What is wrong with you? Little animals.' It was just so cute. That's what I remember more than anything, more than going to the Colosseum or some restaurant — the time in the car together. So as long as we're all together, I'm pretty cool."

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Reprioritizing After Unretiring

"You can't stop your life even though sports is happening," Brady confessed during a September 2022 episode of his "Let's Go" podcast after previously raising eyebrows with his 11-day absence from preseason training. "Even though I'm playing in my 23rd year, I have a [son who's a] freshman in high school that is playing football, too. I have a 12-year-old that is going through his life. I have a 9-year-old that is going through her life. And I have parents."

He added: "Once football season comes, I really lock in on what I need to do and how I need to focus and the kind of commitment I need to make for the organization."

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What Matters Most

"Football and family has always been the most important thing to me so it's a good time of year," Brady said during a September 2022 episode of his podcast, "Let's Go! with Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray," following his first post-retirement game.

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Following in Dad's Footsteps

During an October 2022 episode of his "Let's Go" podcast, Brady revealed that Jack is playing high school football. "I think one of the great highlights of my life is watching him play and him grow and develop, and my kids in general too," the quarterback said. "I could never imagine he'd be in high school. I never imagined him playing football. So, getting out there and watching him play has been so much fun for me."

He added that he just wants Jack to have fun rather than worry about how successful he is. "I don't give a s–t how well he does," Brady said. "I just love watching him and seeing him enjoy it with his friends and the camaraderie at a young age. I remember being in high school myself. I loved being out there with my teammates, having pancake breakfasts on Saturdays. He has meals on Friday nights with his teammates, and it brings out the best parts of us. So, it's really a treat, as all parents know, watching their kids play."

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'My No. 1 Cheerleader'

“My daughter always says, ‘Daddy, you did not have a happy face out there,’" Brady shared on the “Let’s Go! With Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray” podcast in November 2022, referring to daughter Vivi's reaction to his football game face. "And I’m trying, but ... I wish I would have more awareness of what the scowl looks like, but I’m doing my best to try to ... get to a better place and a better peace of mind out there.”

After a recent win, the athlete shared that Vivi was thrilled for him. “She was very excited. That little girl was very excited for her dad," Brady said. "So, she is my No. 1 cheerleader and I wouldn’t have it any other way."

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Thankful for Their Support

“I love my family. I love my teammates. I love my friends. I love my coaches. I love football. I love you all,” Brady captioned his official retirement announcement via Instagram in February 2023. “I am truly grateful on this day. Thank you 🙏🏻❤️.”

The athlete shared a brief video with his fans while reflecting on his 23-year career in the NFL. He concluded by giving his loved ones another shout-out.

“I really thank you guys so much. To every single one of you for supporting me. My family, my friends, my teammates, my competitors. I could go on forever, there’s too many,” he concluded. “Thank you guys for allowing me to live out my absolute dream. I wouldn’t change a thing. Love you all.”

The emotional post also included pictures of Brady with his three children both on and off the field throughout his career.