A new book about the life of Tom Brady lets the former NFL quarterback off the hook when it comes to his controversial breakup with ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan.
“I did the math,” author Lars Anderson exclusively told Us. “It barely works in Tom’s favor. Barely.”
In Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness, released on Tuesday, September 29, Anderson examines the split between Brady, 49, and Sex and the City actress Moynahan, 55, in December 2006, which came shortly before Brady started dating his future wife, model Gisele Bündchen.
Moynahan called Brady in February 2007 to inform him she was pregnant with his baby. At the time, Brady had already been seeing Bündchen for two months.
After news of Moynahan’s pregnancy broke, Brady was vilified by some critics for seemingly dumping Moynahan while she was pregnant to start dating Bündchen. It’s a narrative that Anderson described as “fiction.”
“A certified obstetrics nurse estimated that, based on the infant’s being born at 40 weeks, the date of conception would have been close to November 29, 2006, at least two weeks before Brady’s blind date with Gisele,” Anderson writes in the book.
Moynahan gave birth to their son, Jack, in August 2007. Brady and Bündchen got married in February 2009, and later welcomed son Benjamin, in December 2009, and daughter Vivian, in December 2012.
Brady and Bündchen officially divorced in October 2022 after 13 years of marriage.
In writing the book about the 7-time Super Bowl champion, Anderson quickly realized “you can’t tell his story without Gisele.”
“His diet comes from Gisele, the way he dresses comes from Gisele,” Anderson told Us. “You have to remember, she was a far more worldly person than Tom. She speaks six languages. Tom didn’t take the time to learn Portuguese, her native tongue.”
Anderson added of the Victoria’s Secret Angel, “She opened his world in ways that he never could have fathomed. I know a lot of his friends were like, ‘Oh s***. Tom is stepping into something he may not be ready for. He was already famous, obviously. But to become arguably the most famous married couple in the world is tough. It’s really tough.”
Ultimately, Brady’s devotion to football became too much for their marriage to take.
“The rhythm and structure of his life was football,” Anderson explained to Us. “Everything was football. He’d go on a few vacations here and there with Gisele and the kids, but [his former teammates] described to me that he’s the most obsessed dude that they’ve ever met. It’s all football. You know, he describes throwing a football to a sexual climax.”
Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness is available now.
