Gisele & Tom Brady aren’t having problems ‘due to his decision to play football’

As we discussed, Gisele Bundchen didn’t go to Tom Brady’s first home game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Gisele’s absence wasn’t surprising, given the month-long reports of Tom and Gisele’s estrangement and separation. Still, I guess some people expected her to lend her support to Tom anyway, given that Tom’s three kids made it to the game. Which makes me wonder how those travel arrangements went, actually. Without Gisele there to act as chauffeur and travel coordinator, how is Tom managing to get his kids there, including Jack, who lives in New York? I’m sure a nanny or friend or associate is taking care of it, but still. I hope this has been a wakeup call for Tom about all of the sh-t Gisele has done for him for years. So maybe their marital estrangement isn’t technically about Tom’s return to the NFL and it’s more about Gisele being sick of Tom taking her emotional labor and physical labor for granted:

Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen’s marriage problems have “nothing to do with his decision to return to the NFL,” sources close to the model now say, adding those claims are “sexist.”

A source close to the couple told Page Six, “The problems are not due to his decision to play football again — sometimes things are complicated.”

While refusing to explain more, the insider added that this speculation is “sexist” and wrongly blames the model for their marriage issues.

Page Six exclusively revealed the Brazilian supermodel, 42, and her Buccaneers quarterback husband, 45, were on the rocks after she fled to Costa Rica following an “epic row.” Insiders told us that Brady and Bündchen’s marriage spat was over his shocking decision to un-retire from the NFL, which the supermodel has questioned in recent interviews.

[From Page Six]

I don’t get the “it’s sexist to say that” argument coming from Gisele’s side? There was a reference to sexism in her Elle profile too. It’s not sexist to say that Gisele wishes Tom had stayed retired. It’s not sexist to say that she’s mad at him for lying to her about retiring. It’s not sexist to say that Gisele is justifiably concerned about concussions and CTE. What’s sexist is Tom Brady thinking that he could count on Gisele to always put her career on hold so that he could play football forever.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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13 Responses to “Gisele & Tom Brady aren’t having problems ‘due to his decision to play football’”

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  1. goofpuff says:

    Sounds like someone on Tom’s side trying to PR damage control to shift the blame from him.

  2. Abby says:

    This whole story is interesting. I’m not really a fan of either of them, but I’m team Gisele here. I know she got with him while/because he’s the GOAT of football, but I think it’s her turn now and it wasn’t fair for him to un-retire. He’s at risk of injury or worse every time he steps onto the field. I just keep thinking about CTE. If I was in her shoes I would want him off the field for good too, and I’d be ready for my chance to reclaim more time to pursue my own goals. And for a more evenly shared parenting relationship.

    Re: shuffling kids, I’m sure he had an assistant to coordinate bringing the kids to the game? surely?

  3. girl_ninja says:

    I think that the decision to go back for another year added to the stress of whatever is happening in their marriage. I suspect that the the 11 days that he took from mini-camp was him maybe begging Gisele not to leave or something along those line.

    Another thought I had about all of this is that Gisele is fortunate to have the means to leave the mess she is in and take a step back for her mental health. So many women don’t and are trapped by their lazy, horrible partners. I believe in love and even in marriage but more and more I see it as a trap that is far, far worse for the woman.

  4. AnneL says:

    I don’t see how that’s sexist either. Maybe they think it’s suggesting women don’t “like” or “get” football? But that’s not what people were thinking. They were thinking she wanted him to be more present and to not risk injuring himself any more. There’s nothing sexist about that.

    I’m not convinced his decision to keep playing didn’t play a role in this. Sure, there are other reasons for their estrangement but it’s hard to imagine that him lying, putting football ahead of his family and health and being too busy and distracted to spend enough quality time with his kids didn’t have at least something to do with it.

  5. Case says:

    Agree, it’s not sexist at all to say Gisele wishes Tom stuck to his plan and took on some responsibilities at home so she can have more time to pursue her dreams. He’s being a bad partner to her and she hoped for better from him after all she’s done to allow him to pursue his career, that’s all.

  6. whatWHAT? says:

    *insert “Sure, Jan” gif here*

    yeah, I don’t buy that. I agree with the theory that she’s sick of Tom taking her emotional labor and physical labor for granted, and I think that him retiring kind of solved that issue, or at least lessened her ire. but then when he unretired?…that was it for her.

    his retirement was essentially him acknowledging her position and trying to work on it and then he said “NAH” and she realized (as noted) that she’ll never be his Number 1, she and the kids will always be second/third behind his love of the sport.

  7. Size Does Matter says:

    I’ve seen it called the “mental load” – all that stuff that somehow becomes the mom/wife’s responsibility. It’s remembering, handling and coordinating doctors, dentists, sports, tutors, clubs, regular school stuff, special school stuff, holidays, birthdays, vacations, travel, meals, house stuff, shopping, clothing, vehicle maintenance, pet stuff and on and on multiplied exponentially if there are multiple kids. I assume there are assistants that help Tom and Giselle with many of these things but someone still has to tell the assistants what to do.

  8. Susan says:

    Also, don’t we all have that wall we hit, the inevitable straw that breaks the camel’s back? There are many rumors of his cheating and she might just be at that midlife F*&% it zone. I know a few people that have been there (cough cough ME)

    • MERD says:

      But this story is not about you. No, there aren’t many rumors of his cheating, you want to believe it because it makes you feel better about yourself.

  9. AMA1977 says:

    I remain firmly Team Gisele and like everyone here, I am certain that if the take-back on retiring isn’t the whole issue, it’s part of it. She did everything (with paid help) for the kids/home while he indulged his own ego in pursuit of more and more accolades, and then he reneged on retiring and spending more and better-quality time at home.

    When you’ve chosen to be a family unit and have kids, you owe your kids and partner equal consideration/priority to what you give yourself. To the outside observer, it sure seems like Tom has prioritized himself at the expense of Gisele and the kids for YEARS, and then willingly recommitted to prioritizing himself above them AGAIN after promising he was going to stop doing that. I imagine she has hit the “wall” and that she is just DONE. I would be done, too.

  10. Ely says:

    I remember – I think celebitchy covered it at the time – an interview with Tom a few years ago where he actually talked about acting like a child in order to get attention from Gisele…

    This is definitely about more than just football…