Tom Brady Says He "Screwed Up" as a Father to Gisele Bündchen and Bridget Moynahan's Kids
"Being a parent is probably the hardest job all of us have."
Tom Brady is reflecting on fatherhood and the mistakes he's made along the way. The seven-time Super Bowl winner shares kids Benjamin and Vivian with ex-wife Gisele Bündchen and son Jack with Bridget Moynahan.
During the Fortune Global Forum on November 12, Brady noted that parenting can be really tough and that he, like most people, hasn't always been the perfect father.
"Being a parent is probably the hardest job all of us have," he said, per E!. "And we screwed up a lot and I've screwed up a lot as a parent."
The NFL star added that he wasn't "some expert in parenting," but that he always does his best to be "be dependable and consistent" for his kids. For instance, he feels like it's important to support whatever they want to do, as his parents, Galynn and Thomas Brady, did the same for him.
"When I was that long shot as a kid, who was the backup quarterback on a freshman team, they never said, ‘Man, don't do that. It's gonna be too hard. Let's do something different. Let's think about another backup plan,'" he recalled. "They kinda said, ‘You know what? Go for it. Whatever you wanna be, go for it.'"
Obviously, their advice and Brady's persistence paid off, as he now has more Super Bowl wins than any other player and franchise in NFL history. He wants to pass along that lesson to his oldest son Jack to who is following in his dad's footsteps. Brady added that the 17 year old hopes to one day be an athlete as well—though he wants to a basketball player rather than a football star.
"Unfortunately he jumps as high as I do," he said about the teen. "But I tell him, 'Dude, you're gonna be a stud.' I said, ‘Wait till you hit your growth spurt, you're gonna be jumping higher, you're gonna be dunkin'.' And whether he does or not, who cares? But I want him to know that his dad's got his back."
Of course, there will be pressures that come along with being the son of Brady, who is widely referred to as the G.O.A.T. of football. The legend himself even noted that "to be a boy, it sucks to be Tom Brady's son, in so many ways." However, he adds that he will have his kids backs every step of the way.
"My kids naturally are gonna be faced with their own challenges, and they gotta figure out how to overcome them, too," Brady said. "And I'll be there to support them a lot like my parents did. And I'll be learning along the way right there with them."