2022 has been a roller-coaster of a year for Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, to say the very least.
Brady was in retirement for 40 days before announcing in March that he was returning to the Buccaneers for the 2022 season. In late October, Brady and his wife, Gisele Bündchen, announced that they had divorced.
Brady and Bündchen were married in 2009. They have two children together, a son named Benjamin and a daughter named Vivian. Brady also has a son named Jack from a previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan.
The Buccaneers needed a miracle to beat the New Orleans Saints on Monday night to improve to 6-6 on the season. Brady and the Bucs haven’t played up to expectations at this point, and many wonder if the issues in TB12’s personal life have played a factor in his up-and-down play.
In the newest edition of his “Let’s Go!” podcast (h/t Jenna Lemoncelli of the New York Post), Brady commented on some of the emotional struggles he’s had to endure since his highly publicized divorce:
“I think there’s so many ways for me that it just keeps great perspective for me in my life. Why have I done it for as long as I have? You know, physically, I’ve explained that and I’ve tried to take care of myself. You know, mentally, and as we talked about with Coach (Sean) Payton, there’s such a drive mentally to always come up with the next great play, or the next great concept, or the next great scream.
And then emotionally, that’s where I think as you get older the challenges really come in, you know — because we can get distracted by other parts of life. And not distracted in a bad way but there’s priorities that take over.
So I’ve tried my best over the years to maintain what’s important to me. And been very fortunate to play a sport that I love. And, as I said, why do I play? Because the competition is great. Obviously it’s a great thrill and joy to go out there and play, but you’re just, you’re a part of something that’s way bigger than yourself and there’s something to be said for that.”
The Buccaneers went 11-5 and 13-4 in the 2020 and 2021 regular seasons, respectively. But it only took Week 12 against the Cleveland Browns for Tampa Bay to suffer its sixth regular season defeat, the most in the Brady era.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
Fortunately for the Bucs, they play in football’s worst division. At 6-6, they’re leading the NFC South, and it would take a monumental collapse plus an unexpected surge from the 5-8 Atlanta Falcons to win the division crown.
Brady and the Buccaneers will try to maintain their momentum when they visit the San Francisco 49ers, Brady’s childhood team, at Levi’s Stadium this Sunday. In 12 games, the three-time league MVP has completed 66.2 percent of pass attempts for 3,332 yards and 16 touchdowns against only three interceptions.
