X / @fortunemagazine
Tom Brady got candid about his personal life on Tuesday … openly admitting to a room full of strangers that he has not been the world’s greatest father to his three kids.
The former NFL superstar made the revelation while speaking on a panel at the 2024 Fortune Global Forum in New York City.
Brady was asked how he’s able to motivate his 17-year-old son, Jack — who he shares with Bridget Moynahan — and his other young son and daughter, Benjamin and Vivian — who he shares with Gisele Bundchen — and he wanted to make it clear to the audience he’s by no means the GOAT of parenthood.
“All of the parents of the room know that being a parent is probably the hardest job all of us have,” the ex-quarterback said. “And we screw up a lot.”
“And I’ve screwed up a lot as a parent,” he added.
Brady, though, went on to say he’s certainly trying his best to be as good a dad as he was a signal-caller … sharing with the crowd that his No. 1 goal is to be simply as “consistent and dependable” as he can be in their lives.
He also stated he wants to be extremely supportive of his kids’ endeavors — no matter which hobbies or professions they choose.
“The blessing my parents gave me,” he said, “was when I was that longshot as a kid who was a backup quarterback on a freshman team, they never said, ‘Man, don’t do that. It’s going to be too hard. Let’s do something different. Let’s think about another backup plan.’ They kind of said, ‘You know what? Go for it.’”
“And that’s probably my parenting style.”
Brady said that’s recently been his approach with Jack — who, despite having a small vertical leap, wants to be an NBA player.
“I want him to know that his dad’s got his back,” Brady said.
The 47-year-old wrapped up the convo by explaining he knows his kids are going to have to face further struggles down the road due to his fame … but he’s fully planning “to be there to support them.”
“And,” he continued, “I’ll be learning along the way right there with them.”
