Tom Brady has addressed comments made by his wife, Gisele Bundchen, that he has a history of concussions, including one suffered last season when he took his team to victory in the Super Bowl.
In an interview with ESPN’s E:60, Brady was asked about Bundchen’s comments and pointedly the New England Patriots quarterback did not deny they were true. “She’s there every day,” he said. “I mean, we go to bed in the same bed every night, so I think she knows when I’m sore, she knows when I’m tired, she knows when I get hit. We drive home together [after games]. But, she also knows how well I take care of myself. She’s a very concerned wife and very loving.”
Brady will turn 40 in August. In May, Bundchen spoke about her concerns for her husband. “He had a concussion last year. He has concussions pretty much every ... I mean, we don’t talk about it. He does have concussions,” Bundchen said. “I don’t really think it’s a healthy thing for a body to go through that kind of aggression all the time. That could not be healthy for you.”
In response to Bundchen’s original comments, Brady’s agent, Don Yee, said the quarterback had not been diagnosed with a concussion in 2016, although some players do not report head trauma to their teams.
Brady has said he plans to play for at least another five years, although in February he said Bundchen wants him to retire from the game: “If it was up to my wife, she would have me retire today. She told me that last night three times.” Bundchen reiterated that sentiment on Wednesday: “I’m planning on having him be healthy and do a lot of fun things when we’re like 100, I hope,” she said.
Concussions in the NFL have been under increased scrutiny in recent years. One of Brady’s former team-mates, Junior Seau, killed himself in 2012 and was found to have the degenerative brain condition CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CTE is often found in athletes who have suffered from head trauma during their careers.
