Tom Brady Admits He ‘Screwed Up a Lot’ as a Parent

Tom Brady is getting candid about his mistakes as a father. The former NFL star, 47, opened up about parenthood during an appearance at the Fortune Global Forum in New York City on Tuesday, Nov. 12, calling it “the hardest job” of all.

“Being a parent is probably the hardest job all of us have,” Brady said in a video shared on X (formerly Twitter). “And we screw up a lot and I’ve screwed up a lot as a parent.”

The athlete is father to three children – John “Jack” Edward Thomas, 17, whom he shares with ex Bridget Moynahan, and Benjamin Rein, 14, and Vivian Lake, 11, whom he shares with ex-wife Gisele Bündchen.

The legendary quarterback continued, “I don’t want to seem like I’m some expert in parenting, because I’m certainly not that.” Brady does try to be “dependable and consistent” though for his “three amazing kids,” and is determined to support anything his children want to do with their lives.

The former New England Patriots player also acknowledged that it “sucks” to be his son “in so many ways,” as per TMZ. “There’s a lot of challenges I faced as a kid … my kid naturally are going to be faced with their own challenges,” he said. “And I’ll be there to support them a lot like my parents did. And I’ll be learning along the way right there with them.”

Brady credited his parents, Galynn and Tom Brady Sr., for supporting his football dreams when he was “that long shot as a kid,” playing as the backup quarterback on his 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,’” Brady told the crowd. “They kinda said, ‘You know what? Go for it. Whatever you wanna be, go for it.’”

It’s that “parenting style” Brady has found himself emulating the most with his own kids, including son Jack, who is already 6-foot-5 and aspires to be a basketball player. “Unfortunately he jumps as high as I do,” he quipped of his son. “But I tell him, “Dude, you’re gonna be a stud.’ I said, ‘Wait till you hit your growth spurt, you’re gonna be jumping higher, you’re gonna be dunkin’.’ And whether he does or not, who cares? But I want him to know that his dad’s got his back.”