Gisele Bundchen appeared on The Ellen Show this week to talk about her many projects and books and whatever. She ended up talking mostly about Tom Brady and their life together, and I ended up feeling sort of sad. Like, am I almost sympathetic towards Gisele? I think her marriage is generally fine, but as the years go on and Tom Brady’s contract with the Patriots continues, you can tell that Gisele isn’t happy about it. She flat-out wants him to retire. But she doesn’t want to be (or to be seen) as That Wife Who Demands That Her Husband Quit His Job. Some quotes:
Rumors that Gisele will retire: “I’ve never worked so hard in my life, actually. I think I’ll retire only the day I die, because I love working. I love creating. I think that’s why we’re here: to keep creating, expanding and learning.”
Ellen, a Saints fan, asking if Tom is close to retiring: “I think you should talk with him about that,” Bündchen said. “I haven’t been successful.” Asked whether she wants him to retire, Bündchen gave a diplomatic answer. “I want him to do whatever makes him happy. Maybe if you have a conversation with him, you know?”
How physically taxing Tom’s job is: “I definitely wouldn’t want to have his job, that’s for sure. I’ll stay happy with mine. I think it’s definitely something you get concerned with, but he loves it so much. You gotta let him do what he loves.”
Whether Tom is bad at anything: “He’s terrible at…He’s not a multi-tasker. He can just do one thing at a time.”
Tom’s secret talent: “He’s an amazing waffle maker…He actually makes the batter and jokes with me, ‘I can’t give you the secret, otherwise you won’t need me anymore.’ He has some secret recipe; I’m sure there’s some packaged thing involved. But I have never seen him making it because he literally won’t let me see it. He says, ‘Then you won’t need me.’ I say, ‘OK! That’s fine.’ It tastes delicious. I can’t stop eating them.”
I can’t believe Tom AND Gisele eat waffles. I thought that wasn’t allowed in their crazy 90% raw diet? I find this Classic Judgmental Gisele though: “He has some secret recipe; I’m sure there’s some packaged thing involved.” I’m sure there is too – his secret is likely something from Aunt Jemima. And I think it’s a gender thing – most women are good multitaskers and most men are not.
As for all of the retirement talk… Gisele has wanted Tom to retire for years now. She even accidentally revealed that he’s had multiple concussions, and I’m sure she’s thinking long-term, about what her marriage is going to look like if and when Tom is diagnosed with CTE.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
He seems like he has nothing going on between his ears except football. Like what would he do if he retired? Coach?
He doesn’t…. Th NYT magazine did a profile on him a few years back and barely mentioned Gisele once or his kids. It was 100% pure football. That is all he knows how to do.
I’m not at all a fan of her self-righteous “lifestyle” advice, but I don’t blame her ONE BIT for wanting her husband to retire while there’s still a chance he won’t have severe long-term effects of concussions (and other football injuries).
dude’s a great player and his whole life is football. I think he’s going to go the way of Brett Favre and not retire until it’s painfully obvious that he doesn’t have it anymore and has to quit.
I feel like it must be so exhausting being Gisele. I’m no big fan of either of them, but I feel like he’d be so tiring to live with. He’s good at his job, but he really is not a thinker in any other capacity. And while I don’t think she’s probably a genius, I suspect she has to play to his ego quite a bit. But maybe she’s cool with that, and that’s why it works.
Not to digress but my god, I’d forgotten how terrible their Met Gala looks were. That dress on Gisele is HEINOUS.
The waffles thing stood out to me too- no way!
I can’t blame her one bit for wanting him to stop. The concussions would worry me for the long term for sure. Plus he’s been lucky enough to be pretty healthy and not have any major injury, but every play of every game has potential to really mess him up.
Considering his position and the length of his career, he has been extraordinarily lucky as far as injuries go but he did miss all but the first quarter of the 2008 season due to a torn ACL. Still, an astounding career relatively free of major injuries
I think he should seriously consider going out strong and preserving whatever mental capacity he has.
I am a fan of both. I love Tom and a part of me thinks he should have retired after his 5th super bowl, that way he would have gone out on top but I also understand his love for the game, or his ambition. Love ya Tom, take care of yourself tho geeeeez your family needs you
Please, I get the severity of the situation but Tom has tight ends making sure he stays safe. Why do you think Gronk blinks and gets a concussion from it? It’s because he’s been taking hits to protect Brady all these years. Gronk is the one that needs to retire. Too much partying and too many injuries.
Lol, I have to disagree about who is protecting Tom from being hit – it’s definitely his O-linemen, the least recognized (yet most important to the quarterback) positions on a football team. Sure, Gronk (and other receivers) might take a couple hard hits every game, but the offensive linemen give/take hits on every play. The avg. number of offensive plays that are run in an NFL game is between 67-84. Without a strong O-line Tom wouldn’t exist.
But I DO agree with you about Gronk retiring while he’s still mobile enough to enjoy life. CTE is a real thing.
Oh yeah, I know theres other players taking hits for Brady. I was just highlighting how quickly the tight ends seem to physically decline from it.
*When Tom publicly discloses that he has been diagnosed with CTE for some time because of his precipitous decline, not if.
CTE is hell for the patient and hell for the family. I lost my best friend to CTE this year, military related, but not football related. He was not himself and there’s a hole in my life where he used to be.
Yikes, her face in that top photo looks jacked. What did she do to herself?