Buccaneers’ Tom Brady, wife Gisele Bündchen reportedly in fight over his decision to return to NFL

After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were bounced from the 2022 NFL Playoffs by the Los Angeles Rams in January, quarterback Tom Brady surprised many when he first refused to commit to playing another season and then explained during an appearance on his “Let’s Go” SiriusXM show and podcast that he first needed to spend time with wife Gisele Bündchen and his family before he confirmed any decision. 

Brady retired soon after those comments but then returned to the Buccaneers’ active roster roughly six weeks later. The 45-year-old again stunned members of the football community, however, when he unexpectedly took an 11-day break away from the club in August for unspecified “personal reasons” that reportedly included a family vacation in the Bahamas. 

Emily Smith and Sara Nathan of Page Six offered an update on the situation on Thursday and reported that Bündchen “left their family compound in Tampa, Fla., for Costa Rica following a series of heated arguments over Brady’s shock decision to un-retire from the NFL.” Brady, of course, is preparing with teammates for the upcoming Week 1 matchup at the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 11. 

“There’s been trouble in the marriage over his decision to un-retire. Gisele has always been the one with the kids,” a source told Page Six. “They had agreed he would retire to focus on the family, then he changed his mind.” 

Another source said that “this has happened before with the couple, but they have always reunited in the past.” 

As Chris Mason noted for MLive, Brady admitted during the January edition of “Let’s Go” that playing months after his 44th birthday made life somewhat difficult for Bündchen even though she’s been his “biggest supporter” over the years. 

“It pains her to see me get hit out there,” Brady added at that time. “And she deserves what she needs from me as a husband and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad. And I’m gonna spend some time with them and give them what they need, ‘cause they’ve really been giving me what I need the last six months to do what I love to do. I said this a few years ago, it’s what relationships are all about. It’s not always what I want. It’s what we want as a family. And I’m gonna spend a lot of time with them and figure out in the future what’s next.” 

Brady has a job as Fox Sports’ lead NFL analyst waiting for him whenever he retires, and that gig will reportedly earn him $375 million over 10 years. 

“It’s all personal,” Brady told reporters after this past Saturday’s preseason finale at the Indianapolis Colts about his 11-day vacation. “Everyone’s got different situations they’re dealing with. We all have really unique challenges to our life. I’m 45 years old, man. There’s a lot of s— going on.”