Tom Brady’s quote on fatherhood.(Image via Getty Images)
In 2017, a young fan asked Brady to name his hero at a Super Bowl interview. In January 2025, he posted a photo of all three together, writing, “I couldn’t have imagined a better way to ring in the new year than with the loves of my life. Because he’s someone I look up to every day, he paused, got visibly emotional, and said, “I think my dad is my hero. Because it comes from someone who spent two decades obsessing over perfection, that candor carries weight precisely.
But in a 2022 episode of ESPN’s documentary series “Man in the Arena,” none of that seemed to matter. Tom Brady has spoken repeatedly about Tom Brady Sr., describing him as his “biggest supporter,” “best friend,” and “number one teacher. Earlier this year, he flew Benjamin and Vivian to Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics, posting that “relationships are built on shared experience” and joking he “won the gold medal for pizza” on the trip. At the 2024 Fortune Global Forum, Brady told a room full of executives that parenting is “probably the hardest job all of us have” and admitted he has “screwed up a lot.
Tom Brady has seven Super Bowl rings, every major NFL passing record, and a career that most athletes can only dream of. Fighting back tears, Brady admitted something that no championship trophy could fix: “I know I’m not as good a dad to my kids that my dad’s been to me. It was a rare, unscripted moment from a man famous for emotional control. And it turned out to be the beginning of something far more meaningful than a game plan. The answer to that question starts decades before any Super Bowl. On paper, co-parenting across two former relationships while managing a post-NFL media career sounds messy. In practice, Brady has made the kids his organizing principle. He has also been openly self-critical in a way that feels genuine rather than calculated.
In his July 2025 weekly newsletter, he made a distinction that few would expect from a seven-time champion: “Being a great football player didn’t make me a great dad, but how I became a great player certainly had an impact.
In an appearance on “DeepCut with VicBlends,” Brady said, “You get better as a parent, I think, because when you’re a young parent, you don’t really know what you’re doing. That wasn’t performance. Brady Sr. was at every game, every milestone. His presence was total. And that’s precisely what made Brady feel inadequate when he looked at his own children. This is where Brady’s thinking gets interesting. He’s also honest about how long it took him to find his footing. You’re winging it. He talked about constantly asking himself: “Am I listening or am I talking? Am I mentoring or am I disciplining? Am I holding them accountable or am I letting them get away with things?”