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Roast Jokes About Tom Brady's Kids Confirm What We Suspected About His Reputation

Tom Brady posing in black Elyse Jankowski/Getty Images
By Nicole Cord-Cruz

Tom Brady prides himself on being a stand-up father to his children, but his peers — and many of his fans — beg to differ. In the much-anticipated Netflix special, "The Greatest Roast of All-Time: Tom Brady," some of his enthusiastic roasters poked fun at the NFL legend's reputation for being, let's just say, a not-so-present father to his kids, something many have thought since his infamous unretirement from the NFL, all in pursuit of yet another Super Bowl ring.

In case you need a refresher, Brady announced his retirement from the NFL in February 2022, citing a desire to "focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention," aka his family life and marriage to Gisele Bündchen. But a mere month later, he did a complete 180, announcing that he had "unfinished business" in the league and was ready to play for one more season with the sign-off of his "supportive family." It didn't take long, however, for Brady and Bündchen to announce that they were going their separate ways. Although the supermodel denied that Brady's laser-sharp focus on his career was the only factor for their split, Brady himself admitted to Howard Stern in 2020 that he sometimes falls short in his paternal duties "[Gisele] didn't feel like I was doing my part for the family," he said at the time (via E! News).

Come his roast time, his peers and comedians took it as ammunition to take verbal swings at him. And truth be told, he should have seen it all coming.

Was Tom Brady really an absentee father?

Tom Brady smiling Monica Schipper/Getty Images

Tom Brady's peers were unrelenting in their digs at his reputation as a non-model father. Sam Jay quipped about the NFL star embodying certain stereotypes. "For a guy who doesn't like black people, you sure do a lot of n**a* s**t," the comedian joked. "You took out illegal PPE loans, didn't raise your kids." Kevin Hart made a similar joke, telling the audience, "When you gotta chance to go 8-9, and all it will cost you is your wife and your kids, you gotta do what the f**k you gotta do." Even Nikki Glaser joined the fray, referencing Brady's famed TB12 Method. "If you follow Tom Brady's TB12 Method exactly, you too can lose your family," she said.

As the guest of honor at the roast, Brady didn't get many chances to redeem himself. But it's not like he's shied away from acknowledging his parental missteps, anyway. In an Instagram post, he admitted to not being as present to his kids as he wanted. "[My kids] have taught me how to be present (still working on this daily) and cherish every moment (mostly) that we have as a family, because that's what matters most," he wrote in the since-deleted post shared by Page Six. But he also said in his podcast that his kids probably won't appreciate it if he's with them for long periods. "I wish I was there more, but I think if I was there too much, they might be sick and tired of me screwing everything up that's been going on in the house for a long time."

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