Tom Brady Challenges Parents To Start Guiding Their Kids The State

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 8, 2025, 7:40 AM

tom brady challenges parents to start guiding their kids the state

Tom Brady is disappointed in the lack of mental and emotional youth development he sees in athletes. In a conversation with college football analyst Joel Klatt, released Aug. 11, the 48-year-old former NFL quarterback shared his thoughts on how college athletes are deprived of a true college experience. The way he sees it, young athletes today are too focused on money — and not enough on competition. “My college experience was very challenging. It was very competitive,” he said on “The Joel Klatt Show.”

“The lessons I learned in college that I referred to earlier, and certainly about competition, those traits transformed my life as a professional,” he added. FOX NFL studio analyst Rob Gronkowski gives advice to former teammate Tom Brady about his debut as an NFL analyst and highlights his campaign to give back to small-town football teams. Tom Brady made winning the Super Bowl look easy at times. Now he's facing the pressures of ever-evolving parenthood. Even for the most accomplished player in NFL history, being a dad is still "challenging," he admits. "And all the parents out there know that it’s a challenge to be a good parent," Brady said during an interview with Stephen A.

Smith at Fanatics Fest NYC Friday. "I got a lot of things that keep me busy, but still trying to be a great dad and be there for my kids." Brady shared that he often doesn't hear from his 14-year-old son Benjamin, 16-year-old son Jack or 11-year-old daughter Vivian unless they want something. "Every time they call me I know there is a request because when they don’t call, I don’t hear from them. And when I don’t hear from them, I know they don’t want anything," he said. Tom Brady has never been afraid of a challenge, and now, he’s calling out what he sees as one of the biggest problems with modern parenting.

The retired NFL star and entrepreneur thinks some are too quick to rescue our kids from failure. In a candid conversation at Fortune’s Global Forum in New York last November, the seven-time Super Bowl champion and dad of three reflected on how much the world—and parenting in particular—has changed since his... “Think of today’s world, how we screw these kids up,” Brady said during the event. “Every time they mess up, we send them to an easier place to succeed.” For Brady, who famously went from being the 199th pick in the NFL Draft to one of the most decorated players in football history, that mindset misses the point. Failure, he says, is the foundation of success—not something to be avoided.

Brady recalled spending years grinding through high school football before finally earning a starting quarterback spot as a senior. In today’s world, he said, a kid might simply switch schools to find a shortcut. “We’ve all faced different challenges in life; we’ve all faced our own adversities,” he told Fortune. “We look back at those and realize they’re the best things that could’ve happened.” Tom Brady is, quite possibly, the most well-known athlete in the world — or, at least, the most well-known football player. With Brady’s fame comes the responsibility to set an example for the legions of young fans who look up to him.

And, it turns out, he has some interesting advice for them and their parents. Brady was a guest at Fortune Magazine’s Global Forum, where he spoke with editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell. During their conversation, Brady discussed his own parenting style and what he thinks is going wrong for kids today. Brady said, “Think of today’s world, how we screw these kids up. Every time they mess up, we send them to an easier place to succeed.” RELATED: 7 Strict Rules Tom Brady & Gisele Bündchen Make Their Kids Follow

Tom Brady made winning the Super Bowl look easy at times. Now he’s facing the pressures of ever-evolving parenthood. Even for the most accomplished player in NFL history, being a dad is still “challenging,” he admits. “And all the parents out there know that it’s a challenge to be a good parent,” Brady said during an interview with Stephen A. Smith at Fanatics Fest NYC Friday. “I got a lot of things that keep me busy, but still trying to be a great dad and be there for my kids.”

Brady shared that he often doesn’t hear from his 14-year-old son Benjamin, 16-year-old son Jack or 11-year-old daughter Vivian unless they want something. “Every time they call me I know there is a request because when they don’t call, I don’t hear from them. And when I don’t hear from them, I know they don’t want anything,” he said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Tom Brady told Fortune Global Forum that “being a parent is probably the hardest job all of us have.” Tom Brady spent his childhood living under the shadows of his three talented elder sisters and accepted he wasn’t the most athletic one among them.

But it was the constant love and support he had from his parents, that made him the most successful football star globally. Now that he has three kids of his own, he continues to parent in the same way and has important advice for other parents too. Although Tom believes, he isn’t as successful in parenting as his father was, the former Patriots QB stands out as a role model for both his kids and other parents. He played professional football for 23 years, won seven Super Bowls, and still managed to play a decent role as a father and a person. Now the ones raising young kids are eager to know how he did it all. Tom Brady recently made an appearance on the “Pivot Podcast,” where he had just one but a piece of crucial advice for parents for the overall development of their kids.

He highlighted that it’s necessary for parents to share their kids’ dreams and always encourage them, no matter how tough the path is. Believing in them alone is a superpower every parent has that can help kids achieve their goals. Brady stated, “The only advice I could give for parents, and so many amazing parents do this is whatever is most important to the kids that’s what you should be. That’s our priority. I feel like when you have the responsibility of your children, whatever they want to do, we got to empower them to go out there and be that and then not discourage them.”

Brady wasn’t the best athlete in his high school and his college days. Moreover, he was the 199th overall pick in the 2000 NFL draft, and nobody imagined he would turn out to be what he is today. But he had unbreakable determination and a loving father who worked tirelessly with him to make his dream possible.

Tom Brady Challenges Parents To Start Guiding Their Kids The State

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