Tom Brady does not want his son to follow in his footsteps and compete in the NFL - because he doesn't want him to have to face the pressure of replicating his success.
Brady won an unprecedented seven Super Bowls over an illustrious career that spanned two decades with the New England Patriots - where he won six of his championships - and three seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning Super Bowl LV. As a result of his longevity and unprecedented success, the former quarterback is considered by many to be the greatest in NFL history.
The 45-year-old stepped away from the sport with plenty of other hardware to go with his seven rings, including five Super Bowl MVP and three regular season MVP awards. Brady is gearing up to enter the commentary booth with FOX Sports after signing a blockbuster $375million deal when he originally retired last year, before sensationally returning for the 2022 season.
Now onto the next chapter of his life, Brady is focusing on fatherhood - and he discussed his son’s future in football. Jack is a quarterback at youth level but Brady hopes the 15-year-old will be motivated by any career in the future, not just the NFL.
And Brady summed up the fact his focus is only on what is best for his kids by revealing he wouldn't like to see him face the "crazy expectations" that would come with following in his footsteps.
“I hope he finds the things in his life that allow him to get up every day to be internally motivated to work hard at something he loves to do,” Brady told ESPN. “I don’t think football… a lot of it, I wouldn’t choose for him to do that, because there’s too many crazy expectations that people would put on him. Most of them probably very unfair, actually.
“So, whatever path he chooses in life – or my son Benny or my daughter Vivi – whatever they choose, I’m there to support them, just like my dad supported me. I was very lucky to find something that I loved to do.”
Back in March, Brady’s ex-wife Gisele Bundchen told Vanity Fair that Jack - who Brady shares with actor Bridget Moynahan - wanted to attend the University of Michigan, the NFL icon’s alma mater. He added: “I think that’s what we as parents should do.
“We should support our children’s dreams, whatever it may be, it doesn’t need to be sports. It could be whatever. It could be performing arts, it could be music, it could be science, it could be law, it could be medicine. So, I think that’s part of being a parent, is supporting your kids’ dreams.”
Brady retired from the NFL as the league’s all-time leader in passing yards (89,214), touchdown passes (649), regular season wins (251) and a number of other records. Despite questions over another return to the league following his investment in the Las Vegas Raiders, Brady has shut down speculation.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Brady insisted he was ‘certain’ his career is over. He added: “I’ve tried to make that clear and I hate to continue to profess that because I’ve already told people that lots of times.”