In 2018, Gisele Bundchen wrote a letter to Tom Brady, begging him to retire

There’s a new biography of Tom Brady called Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness. The “price” is that Tom stupidly ruined his marriage and got involved with some very strange junk science. Both of which were choices made by Brady! Anyway, the Mail had some interesting excerpts, and it looks like the book has a lot of information about the end of Tom and Gisele Bundchen’s marriage. Real ones remember that Gisele was Tom’s ride-or-die for 13 years, and she asked him repeatedly to retire. Tom repeatedly blew off those requests. The final blow was when Tom retired, then quickly unretired and signed on for one more NFL season. That was the point of no return for Gisele, who basically exited their marriage in body, mind and spirit at that moment. Some highlights:

Gisele tried to talk Tom into retirement after the 2017 Super Bowl: In 2017, minutes after Brady had just masterminded the greatest comeback in NFL history to win his sixth Super Bowl, Gisele and their two children ran onto the field to celebrate. But the first words Gisele said to her husband of eight years had nothing to do with the game and everything to do with the future: Would now be the perfect time to retire? Brady didn’t know what to say. He hugged his wife and acted as if he hadn’t heard the question. Later that night in Houston, as the team celebrated, Gisele pressed her husband a second time. Brady was unresponsive. After a third attempt, he finally answered. ‘Too bad, babe,’ he said. ‘I’m having too much fun right now.’

Gisele tried again one year later: Gisele went for a more direct approach in 2018, days after Brady and the New England Patriots had suffered a gut-wrenching Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Gisele wrote her husband a letter – serious, handwritten. She explained that their marriage wasn’t working. She needed more of him, more of his time, more of his attention, more of his heart. She needed him to be present when he was at home, not responding to text messages on his constantly buzzing cell phone or replaying a game in his mind. She needed more help with the kids. She needed the chance to sleep in just a few days a week. She needed more time for her own career.

Tom never acted like Gisele’s career was a big deal: ‘People need to understand that Gisele was a bigger international star than Tom,’ said a former Brady teammate. ‘She was getting tired of living on Tom’s schedule and being somewhat in his shadow during football season. She has a lot of pride, too. And, I mean, how many times did you see Tom supporting her career? There clearly were imbalances there.’ The couple went to marriage counselling, but Brady eventually filed the heartfelt letter in a drawer. He’d pull it out on contemplative nights and reread every word, wanting to be reminded that he needed to tend to his marriage with the same tenacity he tended to his job.

Moving to Florida in early 2020 when Brady signed for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Worried that enrolling their young children at a new school would be ‘too much change,’ Gisele committed to homeschooling Benny and Vivian in Tampa. ‘We were only going to stay for a year,’ she said. One year turned to two.

Brady’s retirement than un-retirement in early 2022: At first, Gisele made the right noises, expressing public support for her husband’s decision to play on… But when Brady walked into One Buc Place in July for the start of training camp, the sight of him – gaunt and cadaverous – was that of a man worn thin, reduced to bone and sorrow. In truth, Gisele had been so upset at Brady’s U-turn that she had flown off to Costa Rica. Brady wound up taking Benny and Vivian, then 12 and 9, to their first day of class at a new private school in Florida.

Gisele is an astrology girlie: ‘Then one day, Gisele, who is really into astrology, basically looked into the stars and told Tom, “We’re not compatible.” And just like that, she was done. But what triggered that? Was it the years of feeling like she wasn’t his top priority? That he kept playing when she’d asked him to step away? Maybe. Or was there a particular spiritual adviser telling her, “Hey, this relationship is bad for you. Get out of it now. Even the stars are telling you that.” One thing is certain: In no way, shape or form was this a normal marital breakdown.’

[From The Daily Mail]

I have such strong memories of the lead-up to the divorce announcement in 2022, when Gisele was clearly telegraphing that her marriage was over and she was totally done with Tom, and he was just wandering around like it was business as usual. It wasn’t the astrology or the spiritual advisor either – Gisele was simply done as soon as Tom decided to un-retire. I honestly believe that. If he had retired when he promised, I believe Gisele probably would have stayed. Apparently, sources claim that Tom was really torn up about Gisele moving on with Joaquim Valente and getting pregnant and remarried within a few years. Oh well!

Photos courtesy of Gisele’s Instagram, Tom’s Instagram, Cover Images, Backgrid and Avalon Red.