Tom Brady knows he’s not the best parent.
On Tuesday, the football star sat for an interview at the Fortune Global Forum when he was asked what it’s like for his kids to grow up under his “very big shadow” following his success in life. The moderator wondered how he motivates his children to find their own path, to which he candidly replied:
“Being a parent is probably the hardest job all of us have and we screwed up a lot and I’ve screwed up a lot as a parent. I don’t want to seem like I’m some expert in parenting because I’m certainly not that.”
He went on to explain how he has three “amazing kids” and that he tries to be as “dependable and consistent” as he can for them.
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As Perezcious readers know, he shares Jack, 17, with ex Bridget Moynahan. He also shares Benjamin, 14, and Vivian, 11, with ex-wife Gisele Bündchen. She’s seemingly called him out for his parenting in the past, and it seems like he knows he’s made his mistakes and that his kids have had to put up a lot between his busy schedule and all the attention that comes with fame. That’s better than nothing!
So, how does he parent? Tom said he’s learning a lot from the way his parents raised him, adding:
“Honestly, whatever our kids chose, as we know, to do whatever they want to do in life, we gotta support. The blessing my parents gave me 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 kinda said, you know what, go for it. Whatever you want to be, go for it. And that’s probably my parenting style.”
Addressing how this relates to his children, he reflected on his son Jack, sharing:
“I have a son who’s six-foot-five and wants to play basketball. Yeah, he’s a little taller than me. He goes to school here in New York and he’s 17. Unfortunately, he jumps as high as I do, but I tell him, ‘Dude, you’re gonna be a stud.’ I said, ‘Wait until you hit your growth spurt. You’re gonna be jumping higher, you’re gonna be dunking.’ And whether he does or not, who cares, but I want him to know that his dad’s got his back.”
Going into sports when your dad is the GOAT has got to be so stressful! There are just so many expectations!
It sounds like Ben, who is much younger, is facing a similar struggle in general, Tom expressed:
“My middle son, it does… you know, to be a boy, it sucks to be Tom Brady’s son in so many ways, and I try to empathize that with them.”
Oof. That’s so tough! Comparison is brutal! Tom tried to end things on a positive note, concluding:
“There’s a lot of challenges I faced as a kid […] My kids naturally are going to be faced with their own challenges, and they gotta figure out how to overcome them too, and I’ll be there to support them a lot like my parents did and I’ll be learning along the way with them.”
Nobody’s perfect! At least he’s trying to do better! Hear him open up about this (below):
"Being a parent is probably the hardest job all of us have. I've screwed up a lot as a parent," @TomBrady says in a candid discussion at #FortuneGlobalForum.
Brady emphasized supporting his children no matter what they want to pursue in life. https://t.co/ZNfwCxb2IG pic.twitter.com/qUVAZOuVYE
— FORTUNE (@FortuneMagazine) November 12, 2024
And here’s his full interview:
Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know (below).
[Image via Tom Brady/Instagram & Oscar Gonzalez/WENN]
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