NFL quarterback Tom Brady is coming off a tough week, both personally and professionally. In the same seven-day stretch that saw his Tampa Bay Bucs lose both their Sunday and Thursday football games, the quarterback and Gisele Bündchen announced Friday, October 28, that their marriage was over after 13 years. While rumors of split drama had plagued the couple for months, their divorce proceedings were handled quickly and quietly, with each expressing that their children remained their top priority. Brady seems to be taking that sentiment to heart, as a source reported how he’s handling their joint custody agreement in the days following the divorce.
With the Buccaneers playing last Thursday night, Tom Brady had a rare Sunday off during football season, and People reports that he spent the weekend in Tampa with his children. The quarterback was seen taking 12-year-old son Benjamin and 9-year-old daughter Vivan to the movies on Friday, and a source for the magazine said:
He is always happy when he is with his kids. The kids have slowly been getting used to spending separate time with Tom and Gisele. They lived separately for months.
Gisele Bündchen, meanwhile, reportedly had the children with her in Miami last weekend. Details of their custody arrangement are unknown, but a second source said she thinks Tom Brady “is a great dad,” and she has no reason to worry when the kids are with him. The first source continued:
When the kids are with Tom, he tries to make it fun with various kids’ activities. He is a very involved dad. You can tell that he loves being a dad.
Rumors of marital problems between the couple spread quickly at the beginning of the current football season. It was believed that the former Victoria’s Secret Angel was unhappy with her then-husband’s decision to return to the NFL, just six weeks after announcing his retirement.
Tom Brady took an unexpected leave from the Bucs during the preseason, and his family’s absence at his games was seen as further proof of marital strife amid the rumors that Gisele Bündchen had moved out and hired a divorce lawyer. The seven-time Super Bowl champion had spoken in the past about his wife not being satisfied with how much time he spent away from her and his three children (in addition to his two with Bündchen, Brady shares 15-year-old Jack with Bridget Moynahan).
On his podcast Let’s Go! on October 24, Tom Brady even admitted to football taking over his personal life, because “your competitiveness takes over, and as much as you want to have this playful balance with the work balance, you’re going to end up doing exactly what you’ve always done, which is why you are who you are.”
Tom Brady’s football future after this season is unknown, but the Bucs seem to have been in a slump lately, losing five of their last six games. Their October 27 loss to the Baltimore Ravens was the first time since 2002 that the quarterback lost three straight games, and it was the first time in his 22-season career that his team fell more than one game below .500.
Whatever the future brings for the former couple, it’s good to see that co-parenting appears to be getting off to a good start, and hopefully it remains that way for the family’s sake.
