Tom Brady is trying to “understand life”.
The 45-year-old quarterback – who has 14-year-old son John with ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan and 12-year-old Benjamin and nine-year-old Vivian with wife Gisele Bundchen – has returned from an absence 11-day-old Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play their first and only pre-season game on Saturday (27.08.22) and he has now explained his reasons for being out for almost two weeks.
He told reporters: “Everyone has different situations they face and we all have unique challenges in our lives.
“I’m 45, man. A lot of shit happens, so you just gotta try to figure life out as best you can. You know, it’s an ongoing process.”
Earlier this month, NFL head coach Todd Bowles explained that Tom was away taking care of “personal matters”.
He said: “Tom was excused today. He’ll take… he’ll be back somewhere after Tennessee. He’s going to take care of some personal things.
“It’s something we talked about before training camp started. We allocated that time because he wanted to come in and have chemistry with the guys and go through two weeks of training camp, knowing that “He wasn’t going to play the first two games. He didn’t want to take out Blaine’s reps [Gabbert] and Kyle [Trask] as well as ‘Griff’ [Ryan Griffin] when it comes to these next two games. And that’s something he has to deal with.
“We trust him. We talked about it. It was planned long before training camp and it won’t be there until after Tennessee.
The coach declined to comment further on the sportsman’s absence, stressing it was a ‘personal matter’ but insisted he had a ‘fairly high’ level of confidence that Tom would be back and ready for the season opener on September 11.
Tom announced in February that he was retiring from the NFL, but just two months later admitted he had had second thoughts and signed up for another season with the Buccaneers.
He tweeted at the time: “Over the past two months I have realized that my place is always on the pitch and not in the stands.
“That time will come. But it’s not now. I love my teammates and I love my family who support me. They make it all possible. I’m coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa.
