Tom Brady Reveals COVID-19 Diagnosis After Super Bowl

Tom Brady went through a brief health scare after winning the 2021 Super Bowl in February. The Tampa Bay Buccanneers quarterback reveals he contracted COVID-19 just after winning his seventh ring. He didn’t share much, but when asked by The Tampa Bay Times if he had faced the virus himself, Brady answered with a brief “yeah.” It’s unclear as to how he caught COVID or if his wife Gisele Bündchen, their son, Benjamin, 11, and daughter Vivian, 8, as well as his son John, 14, with ex Bridget Moynahan, also tested positive at the time. 

Brady went on to share that he and the rest of the team have since been vaccinated and will be taking all of the necessary precautions to avoid any breakthrough cases this coming season. “And I think it’s going to be challenging this year,” he said. “I actually think it’s going to play more of a factor this year than last year, just because of…what we’re doing now, and what the stadium is going to look like, what the travel is going to look like and the people in the building and the fans.” He added: “It’s not like last year. Although we’re getting tested like last year. It’s going to be, I definitely think guys are going to be out at different points and we’ve just got to deal with it.”

Brady’s teammate Leonard Fournette has spoken out about the importance of getting vaccinated, saying that he’s learned more about how it can help society in the future. “You can still catch it, but it makes it a lot better to have the shot,” Fournette said, per PEOPLE. “We need every hand in here in these next couple of games coming up … Just trying to be the best teammate I could be … Trying to be the bigger person and get it over with.”

After winning his last Super Bowl ring, Brady’s faced retirement questions. However, the quarterback let his fans know he’ll be on the field for quite some time. “I’ll know when the time’s right,” Brady said. “If I can’t . . . if I’m not a championship-level quarterback, then I’m not gonna play. If I’m a liability to the team, I mean, no way. But if I think I can win a championship, then I’ll play.”