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Amid Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady‘s divorce announcement, former Baltimore Ravens quarterback Robert Griffin III honored Brady’s closing thought.
Brady ended his announcement with a praying hands emoji on Friday, October 28, as he confirmed rumors of his civil divorce with Gisele Bundchen. Griffin, 32, played against Brady several times as the starting quarterback for Washington before his time in Baltimore.
“Praying for Tom Brady, Gisele and their kids,” Griffin tweeted.
Brady and Bunhdchen married on February 26, 2009, at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California, where they also had their first child, Vivian, baptized. Both Brady and Bundchen announced the divorce on Instagram on Friday. They expressed the difficulty of the decision, wanting to raise their two shared children, wishing each other the best, and asking everyone for privacy.
Because of Brady’s and Bundchen’s high profiles in addition to the public nature of marriage and divorce, the subject won’t disappear any time soon. Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wetzel described Brady’s and Bundchen’s time together as looking like “the couple that had it all“.
“For years they looked like the couple that had it all,” Wetzel wrote. “From Met Gala red carpets to Lombardi trophy podiums, from family portraits on the beach to hugs with the kids.”
“In truth, they were just another couple, just another family trying to make it in America,” Wetzel added. “And like so many others less known or wealthy, for whatever reason it didn’t last, it didn’t survive as intended.”
“It sucks. Every time, for every one, including Tom and Gisele,” Wetzel concluded.
Mike Greenberg on ESPN’s “Greeny” likewise expressed the sadness of a couple not keeping a marital relationship together.
“But what makes me feel a little sick inside is that I think that there will be quarters … of the world today that are going to celebrate something that is a tragedy,” Greenberg said. “And this is something to be mourned.”
Wetzel on Brady: ‘It’s a Wonder He Managed to Play’
Great athletes often ratchet things up another level when things turn difficult away from competition. Michael Jordan has his “flu game” in the 1995 NBA Finals and won. Brett Favre played the day after his father died in 2003 and led the Green Bay Packers to a 41-7 win.
Brady fought his way through the internal pain amid his divorce in two NFL games this week as Wetzel noted. While Brady couldn’t get the Bucs past Carolina or Baltimore, he faced a personal challenge unique from an illness or physically losing a loved one.
“Brady, as an NFL quarterback, has nowhere to hide and process the loss,” Wetzel wrote. “He played two NFL games [both losses] the same week his divorce was finalized and the realization he’d no longer have his children with him every day was cemented. Imagine that stress? He looked defeated and exhausted at the stadium, but it’s a wonder he managed to play.”
After the Ravens game, Brady sat in his locker with his head buried in his hands, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. It lasted about 15 minutes according to Greg Auman of The Athletic.
Brady Carries Heavy Burden for Remainder of the Bucs’ Season
Brady now has nine days to find a way to right the ship of a 3-5 season, the worst start of his career, before the Bucs play again on November 6. That’s amid an off-field challenge that often hinders professional success.
Greenberg noted that reality, and he believes it helps explains “uncharacteristic” season for Brady thus far. Brady averages 6.7 yards per pass attempt, and he has just nine touchdown passes. His sideline outbursts and blunt statements in press conferences have also garnered attention.
“To me, it does because Tom Brady has for 20 something years now put every ounce of his energy into being the best football player ever,” Greenberg said. “And by the way, that does require enormous support and sacrifice from the people around you in your life.”
Greenberg added that it affects Brady’s personal stability and security in addition to the challenge it brings upon his and Bundchen’s children. Greenberg also called it “a reason” and “not an excuse” for Brady’s on-field performance this season.
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