Tom Brady reached the peak of the football world, ending his 23-year career as the pre-eminent Super Bowl champion, with seven rings, and one of the greatest ever to play the game.
But off the field, the NFL legend admits he has some room for improvement.
Brady spoke at the Fortune Global Forum in New York on Nov. 12, discussing a range of topics including his life as a father. Brady has a 17-year-old son, Jack, with ex Bridget Moynahan and two children -- son Benjamin, 14, and daughter Vivian, 11 -- with ex-wife Gisele Bundchen.
The former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers star admitted that he's often fallen short as a parent.
"Being a parent is probably the hardest job all of us have," Brady said. "And we screwed up a lot and I've screwed up a lot as a parent."
Brady added that he doesn't want to come across as "some expert in parenting" but said he has always tried to be "dependable and consistent" for his kids. He added that growing up can be especially tough for his teenage sons, acknowledging that there are downsides to having a famous NFL player for a father.
“There’s a lot of challenges I faced as a kid … my kid naturally are going to be faced with their own challenges … and I’ll be there to support them .. and I’ll be learning along the way with them,” he said.
Brady said he takes inspiration from his own parents, who were always ready to support his dreams, even when they seemed far off.
“The blessing my parents gave me was when I was that longshot as a kid who was a backup quarterback on a freshman team," Brady said. "They never said, ‘Man, don’t do that. It’s going to be too hard. Let’s do something different. Let’s think about another backup plan.'”
“They kind of said, ‘You know what? Go for it. Whatever you wanna be’… and that’s probably my parenting style.”
