Gisele Bündchen reportedly pleaded with Tom Brady to spend more time with their children and give greater attention to their family in a “serious” handwritten letter sent before their highly publicized divorce.
According to Lars Anderson’s forthcoming book, “Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness,” the supermodel gave Brady the note after the New England Patriots’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2018 Super Bowl.
“She explained that their marriage wasn’t working,” Anderson writes in an excerpt published Friday by the Daily Mail. “She needed more of him, more of his time, more of his attention, more of his heart.”
Anderson, who examines the former couple’s relationship in the book, which is scheduled for release Sept. 29, writes that Bündchen, 46, wanted Brady, 49, “to be present when he was at home.”
That meant not ignoring text messages on his constantly buzzing phone or mentally replaying football games, Anderson writes.
“She needed more help with the kids. She needed the chance to sleep in just a few days a week. She needed more time for her own career,” he adds.
One of Brady’s former teammates told Anderson that Bündchen was “a bigger international star” than her then-husband.
The teammate alleged that Bündchen had grown weary of living according to Brady’s schedule and spending much of football season in his shadow.
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“She has a lot of pride, too. And, I mean, how many times did you see Tom supporting her career? There clearly were imbalances there,” the former teammate said.
Anderson says the couple attended marriage counseling, but Brady eventually stored Bündchen’s letter in a drawer.
“He’d pull it out on contemplative nights and reread every word, wanting to be reminded that he needed to tend to his marriage with the same tenacity he tended to his job,” Anderson writes.
Representatives for Brady and Bündchen did not respond to requests for comment about the upcoming book.
Bündchen ended her 13-year marriage to Brady on Oct. 28, 2022. Months earlier, Brady had announced his NFL retirement in February, only to reverse that decision a few weeks later.
“We have grown apart and while it is, of course, difficult to go through something like this, I feel blessed for the time we had together and only wish the best for Tom always,” the health guru wrote in an Instagram statement.
The former couple share two children: Benjamin, 16, and Vivian, 13.
Bündchen married jujitsu instructor Joaquim Valente in December 2025, and the couple welcomed a son, who is now 1 year old.