Tom Brady told Howard Stern on Wednesday morning that he and Gisele Bündchen had to work on their marriage as she “wasn’t satisfied” with the relationship.
The NFL star, who recently left the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, broached the topic during his first interview on The Howard Stern Show.
Bündchen and Brady have been married for 11 years and have two children together. Brady also has a son from a previous relationship with Bridget Moynahan.
During Wednesday’s interview, Brady told Stern that Bündchen ”didn’t feel like [Brady] was doing [his] part for the family” as of a couple of years ago.
“She felt like I would play football all season and she would take care of the house, and then all of a sudden when the season would end I’d be like, ‘Great, let me get into all my other business activities, let me get into my football training.’ And she’s sitting there going, ‘When are you going to do things for the house? When are you going to take the kids to school and do that?’” he recounted.
“And that was a big part of our marriage. I had to check myself, because she was like, ‘I have goals and dreams too. ...So you’d better start taking care of things at the house.”
Brady said he made a “big transition” in his life to focus more on his family.
“The situation wasn’t great,” he added. “She wasn’t satisfied with our marriage.”
He added: “Her point was, ‘Yes, of course this works for you. It all works for you. But it doesn’t work for me.’ You can get caught up in your life where you think a relationship is great, because it only works for you. And the point of a relationship is that it has to work for both.”
The quarterback said Bündchen wrote him a letter expressing her feelings about their relationship, which he has kept and still reads from time to time.
“I think most men want to focus on their career, and it’s very easy for men to focus on their career,” he added.
Brady also revealed during his conversation with Stern that he shed tears when he told Patriots owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick that he would be leaving his longtime team.
“I was crying. I’m a very emotional person,” he said.
The quarterback said he wishes “nothing but the best” for his former team, but still would like to defeat them on the field like any other opponent.
