CNN
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Tom Brady has opened up about his divorce from his wife of 13 years, Gisele Bundchen, saying he is focusing on his family and football amid a “very friendly situation”.
“I think there are a lot of professionals in life who experience things that they manage at work and they manage at home,” the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback said on his weekly podcast Monday. , days after he and Bundchen announced they were divorcing.
“Obviously the good news is that it’s a very friendly situation, and I’m really focused on two things: taking care of my family, and certainly my children, and secondly, doing my best to win football matches. This is what professionals do.”
Talking to sportscaster Jim Gray during his weekly appearance on their “Let’s Go!” podcast, Brady added, “You focus at work when it’s time to work, then when you get home, you focus on the priorities that are at home. Anything you can do is the best you can do. That’s what I will continue to do as long as I work and as long as I’m a dad.
Gray asked Brady if there was a challenge to compartmentalize between the two.
“I think that’s what a professional is,” Brady said. “I’ve faced a lot of tough situations on and off the pitch in 23 years, and a lot of things are happening in front of a lot of people.
“So I think the interesting thing for a football player and an athlete in general is you’re out there, I always say we’re not actors even though we’re on TV. That’s our real self there.
“We try to do our best. That’s how people have really gotten to know me over the years from being on TV, and that’s my authentic self that’s there to compete with my teammates every day and you give everything you can to the team.
“Everyone goes through different things. We all have our unique challenges in life. We are all human. We try our best.”
Brady and Bundchen each announced their divorce on Instagram on Friday.
Brady, 45, had retired from the NFL in February, only to later reverse that decision. He took an 11-day break from training camp in August to “take care of personal things”, according to his head coach Todd Bowles.
In a recent conversation on his podcast, Brady talked about some of the personal costs of playing in the NFL for two decades.
“I haven’t had Christmas in 23 years and I haven’t had Thanksgiving in 23 years, I haven’t celebrated a birthday with people who are dear to me and who were born to August to the end of January. And I can’t be at funerals and I can’t be at weddings,” Brady said.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Elle magazine published in September, Bündchen, 42, said she had “concerns” about her husband’s return to the field after his initial retirement last winter.
“It’s a very violent sport, and I have my kids and I wish it had more of a presence,” Bündchen told the publication. “I’ve certainly had these conversations with him over and over again. But at the end of the day, I think everyone has to make a decision that works for them. [them]. He must also follow his joy.
