Tom Brady Was Apparently 'Stung' By Gisele Bündchen Welcoming Baby No. 3

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A cryptic Tom Brady Instagram post has now taken on a whole new meaning with the release of an excerpt from the upcoming biography "Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness," by Lars Anderson. The extract, released by the Daily Mail, revealed that the NFL star was having a much harder time moving on from his ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen, than the public realized at the time. In Brady's turmoil, he apparently made a public dig at her shortly after she gave birth to her first child with new husband Joaquim Valente, after a hush-hush romance. The caption, which didn't seem to mean much at the time, highlights a major complication in their marriage, which eventually led the couple to divorce.

Brady and Bündchen's relationship took the sports and fashion worlds by storm. The supermodel and legendary quarterback seemed like a match made in hot-people heaven, but there was trouble in paradise. They married in 2009 and divorced in 2022. While the exes seemed amicable, for the sake of their two children, it's now clear that pettiness was brewing beneath the surface. Bündchen started her family with Valente in February 2025 and, as Anderson claims in his book, the pro athlete was "stung" by it. Just a month later, Brady took to his Instagram Stories to share a photo of himself throwing a football into the sunset, captioned: "True Love." "To those who knew him well, there was no ambiguity," the author detailed in "Brady." In fact, "As one friend described it, that was 'the softest middle finger.'"

Tom Brady famously rocked NFL fans when he retired, then backtracked, in 2022 (Brady officially retired in 2023, in an emotional video). At the time, Gisele Bündchen voiced her support publicly, but it seems that his decision to return was a huge part of their eventual separation. The issue was foreshadowed in Brady's 2020 conversation with Howard Stern, where he admitted, "A couple of years ago, she didn't feel like I was doing my part for the family. She felt like I would play football all season and she would take care of the house [...] When the season ended, I'd be like, 'Great, let me get into all of my other business activities. Let me get into my football training," (via People). 

It appears the Patriots player's love of the game may have overshadowed his love of his family. Likewise, "Brady" details how Bündchen went from "gently nudging" her husband to retire to handwriting a letter explaining how football was taking over their marriage. During a 2022 Elle interview, the supermodel argued that she'd sacrificed considerably more for their relationship than Brady had. "I've done my part, which is [to] be there for [Tom]," Bündchen pointed out. "I moved to Boston, and I focused on creating a cocoon and a loving environment for my children to grow up in and to be there supporting him and his dreams." 

Brady acknowledged this himself in 2021, on his "Let's Go!" podcast, noting, "She hasn't worked as much in the last 10, 12 years just raising our family and kind of committing to being in a life in Boston and then moving to Florida." Unfortunately, his actions spoke louder than his words.