Charles Sykes/AP
- Tom Brady said his wife, Gisele Bundchen, has asked him "what more" he wants out of his NFL career.
- Brady said he still enjoys playing football and plans to continue playing as long as he is still having fun.
- There is some evidence that Gisele has pressured Brady to stop playing, and Brady has frequently spoken of the sacrifices his family makes for him and his desire to spend more time with them.
Despite an eyebrow-raising choice to skip voluntary workouts with the New England Patriots, Tom Brady is still preparing for another NFL season.
Brady will turn 41 in August, and as he enters the 19th season of his career, there are more and more questions about when retirement may come.
Brady told Oprah Winfrey in an interview that while he thinks more about the end of his career, he still likes playing the game and doesn't have an exact end-point in mind.
Brady has at times alluded to pressure from his family and desire to spend more time with them as a reason he'll eventually hang up his cleats. Brady told Oprah that his wife, Gisele Bundchen, has asked him what he still playing for after five Super Bowls and three MVPs.
"I talk about it with my wife all the time. You can ask her tonight," Brady said. "She'll tell you, like, 'I told him, you know, what more do you want?'"
But Brady has a simple reason for continuing to play.
"Because I love it!" he said. He told Oprah that if were retire while he still enjoys the game, he would look back on his career wondering why he stopped so early.
It's not the first time there have been suggestions that Gisele has applied pressure on Brady about how much longer he'll keep playing.
Sports Illustrated reported that last summer, Jay Feely, a former teammate of Brady's was on vacation with Brady and Gisele when Gisele told Feeley to convince Brady to stop playing.
"She was dead serious," Feely said.
When he mentioned it to Brady, he instead told Brady to keep playing as long as he can. Brady just winked in reply.
Additionally, last season Brady told WEEI's "Kirk and Callahan" that Gisele and his kids frequently ask him how much longer he'll play. Brady has often admitted that they make a sacrifice to allow him to play and devote so much time to football.
There may be health concerns, least on Gisele's end. Gisele told CBS in 2017 that Brady has had several concussions, but they don't talk about it. Brady and the NFL both disputed the comments.
Brady told Oprah that he wants to carve out more time for his kids eventually .
"I think, what I've alluded to a lot in the ["Tom vs. Time"] docuseries was there's other things happening in my life, too," Brady said. "I do have [three] kids that I love, and I don't want to be a dad that's not there driving my kids to their games. I think my kids have brought a great perspective in my life because kids just want the attention. You better be there and be available to them, or else they're going to look back on their life and go, 'Dad didn't really care that much.'"