Tom Brady Shares Powerful Message On Parenting And Sportskeeda

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 11, 2025, 7:22 PM

tom brady shares powerful message on parenting and sportskeeda

The retired football quarterback is a father of three children: daughter Vivian, 12, and sons Benjamin, 15, and Jack, 17 Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Tom Brady is opening up about what it takes to be a "great father." In the Tuesday, July 29 entry of his weekly newsletter, the former NFL quarterback, 47, penned a message about finding fulfillment in life outside of the sports world. Brady, who's a father of three, also opened up about what he believes makes him a "great father." "I think part of being a great father is being a great example of doing what it takes to take care of your family," he explained.

"I chose to do it by playing football." 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.”

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News Group Newspapers prohibits automated access, collection, or text/data mining of its content, including for AI, machine learning, or LLMs, as per its terms. For commercial use inquiries, contact crawlpermission@news.co.uk. Tom Brady recently shared his perspective on what it means to be a great father, offering advice that has intrigued many readers. In a detailed message published in his "199" newsletter, Brady reflected on the balance between striving for excellence in a professional sports career and being present as a parent. While the message appeared supportive and insightful, some interpreted subtle undertones that might reference his relationship with his ex-wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen. Brady addressed the challenge many high-performing individuals face: the need to dedicate time and focus to their profession, which sometimes takes them away from family.

He expressed how his intense commitment to football—through relentless practice and concentration—was, in his view, part of teaching his children important life lessons. By showing dedication and follow-through, he believed he was modeling what it takes to work hard, keep commitments, and support a team. "My dedication to the sport, the hours of practice, the moments when I was laser focused," Brady wrote, "were times when I believe I was doing the best possible thing for my family and... I was teaching, by example, what it takes to be really good at your job, what it means to keep your promises, and the importance of being a dependable teammate." This outlook conveys the... Brady also highlighted that children observe everything their parents do, including how they approach work and personal goals. He emphasized that success on the field or in any career doesn't automatically make someone a great parent but that the qualities cultivated through striving for excellence can positively influence parenting.

"Being a great football player didn’t make me a great dad, but how I became a great player certainly had an impact," he stated. Addressing a question raised in his letter about choosing between being a better athlete or a better father, Brady responded: "Why are those mutually exclusive? Sure, they’re different blocks on the pyramid, but they’re part of the same pyramid. They’re connected!" This metaphor suggests that personal and family achievements can coexist when balanced thoughtfully. Tom Brady opened up about the challenges of fatherhood. On Tuesday, the former NFL star admitted at the 2024 Fortune Global Forum in New York City that he may not have been the greatest father to his three children: Jack, Benjamin, and Vivian.

“For the room, know that being a parent is probably the hardest job all of us have and we screw up a lot and I've screwed up a lot as a parent,” said the... “So I don't want to seem like I'm some expert in parenting because I'm certainly not that.” He continued, “I have three amazing kids that I just try to be there [for]. I try to just be dependable and consistent for them and honestly, whatever our kids choose as we know to do whatever they want to do in life, we gotta support.” Brady also recalled getting similar support from his parents, who encouraged him to pursue his dreams from a young age. “The blessing my parents gave me was when I was that long shot as a kid who was a backup quarterback on a freshman team?

They never said, ‘Man, don't do that. It's gonna 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. Whatever you want to be, go for it.’ And that's probably my parenting style," he recalled.

Tom Brady Shares Powerful Message On Parenting And Sportskeeda

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