The Tom Brady we saw this past Sunday is not the TB12 we all know. With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers slumping to a 3-3 record, the off-field issues that Tom Brady is dealing with have morphed into an on-field issue for the Bucs.
I really didn’t want to speak about this story as it isn’t my place (or really anyone’s place) to discuss the private details of an individual’s family and home life. Yet, when that homelife has so obviously affected said person’s on-field performance, I just can’t stay quiet about it anymore.
Tom Brady’s family problems are quickly turning into on-field problems as the 45-year-old quarterback is really struggling to live the normal life of a 45-year-old man with a wife and three kids, while also staying focused enough to play football at a high level.
There are two reasons why NFL players shouldn’t last into their mid 40’s and early 50’s: 1. Their bodies will no longer be able to sustain the grueling punishment of the sport of football, 2. They won’t be able to sustain a balanced relationship between their on-field life and their off-field life. Normally, the first reason is the only reason needed for professional football athletes to retire, but Tom Brady is different.
He’ll be the first example of an NFL player that will be forced to retire due to the second, and arguably worse, reason.
Ever since Brady ended his 40ish day retirement back in April, there’s been clamoring out of the Tampa Bay area saying that Brady and his wife, the supermodel Gisele Bündchen, have been having vicious arguments over Brady’s refusal to commit to his duties as a father. And, even if these reported arguments never occurred, she does have a point.
Brady has been refusing to commit to his duties as a father as his love for football has superseded almost everything else in his life.
Not only has he played until he’s 45, which has undoubtably forced him to miss key family events and milestones (ie: birthdays, graduations, celebrations, funerals, talent shows, etc.), but he also relocated his whole family in the middle of his children’s schooling years just because he wanted to prove a point to the Patriots organization.
Why else did he leave the New England area after twenty years and move to Tampa Bay if not to continue proving that he’s still the greatest quarterback ever, even though there was no doubt after his 5th Super Bowl win with the Patriots. Yeah, I’m saying that he already proved himself to the world that he’s the best after he helped complete the greatest playoff comeback in NFL history in the Super Bowl against the Atlanta Falcons.
So, he has spent an additional six years (and two more Super Bowl wins with the Pats and Buccaneers, respectively) proving himself.
Now, that’s a very admirable trait to have, but even admirable traits must come with a cost. And it seems like that cost is to the structure of Brady’s family.
Brady notoriously missed eleven days in training camp to deal with ‘family sh**’ (as Brady put it), he’s taken every Wednesday practice off to be with his family, and he’s now even missed a Saturday walkthrough in order to attend the wedding of Robert Kraft, his longtime friend and the owner of the New England Patriots. Aside from getting injured or suspended, Brady’s has never missed any part of the NFL experience in his 23-year career.
He has just loved the game too much to not give his best effort to it.
But, even with this new noncommittal style, Brady has still ended up in the one place he probably dreaded the most: divorce.
Sadly, according to multiple credible media sources, Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady have hired divorce lawyers and have begun the official proceedings that come with getting a divorce.
Whether Brady likes it or not, his love for football may just very well ruin his family life. And that’s why he has become a problem for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Rightfully so, Tom Brady just isn’t in the correct headspace to be playing professional football anymore. He’s gotten too old to be playing a kid’s sport day-in and day-out, and it will cost him and the Bucs dearly come January and beyond.
I hate to say it as a Patriots fan, but Tom Brady needs to retire soon, or he’ll lose everything he’s worked so hard to build.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Wikimedia Creative Commons License/Author: All-Pro Reels) (All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
