Having the tough conversations. While Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen had an enduring relationship over the years, they’re not immune to marital challenges.

While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, 44, has balanced their marriage and family dynamics with his successful football career, he admitted that the supermodel, 41, had to put her career on hold to manage their household.

“But that’s an issue, and it’s a very difficult issue to reconcile without just saying, ‘Hey, it’s time to retire,’” the NFL champion revealed on the Tuesday, October 26, episode of his “Let’s Go” podcast. “And I think there’s, you know, we’re coming to the end here too, so I don’t want to miss any of the kids’ stuff.”

He continued at the time, “I think my wife has, you know, held down the house for a long time now, and I think there’s things that she wants to accomplish. You know, 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 [following his March 2020 trade].”

Following Brady’s Super Bowl LV victory in February, the Brazil native previously discussed her husband’s potential retirement.

“All of a sudden, I saw my wife and I gave her a big hug,” the professional athlete recalled of his postgame actions during an appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden one month later. “And just as I did it, she said, ‘What more do you have to prove?’ I just gave her a big hug. I was trying to figure out a way to change the subject really quick.”

While the Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life author is ready for her spouse to hang up his jersey, Brady has remained undecided.

“Beyond [next year’s season], I don’t know,” he later admitted during a September interview with the Wall Street Journal Magazine. “Maybe it’s another year after that; maybe it’s two. I’ll have to see where I’m at with my family. That’s probably the overriding factor — what I’m missing out on.”

The football player and Bündchen tied the knot in 2009 before welcoming son Benjamin, 11, and daughter Vivian, 8. Brady — who also shares son Jack, 14, with ex Bridget Moynahan — previously gushed about a single telephone conversation that kickstarted his long romance with the model.

“I think the one phone call that changed my life was my friend Ed, who called me one day and he said, ‘I have this girl and I think you should call her,’” he told WSJ. Magazine at the time. “I ended up calling her and it ended up being the love of my life. … She didn’t pick up, actually. I had to leave a voicemail.”

Since then, the pair have remained a dynamic duo and celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary earlier this year.

“Gisele and Tom will be spending time with their family for their wedding anniversary. They’re both just happy to be spending time together,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in February of their milestone plans. ”At this time, they’re aware that families are suffering and have suffered during the pandemic, so their focus is just making sure their family and everyone close to them is safe. They try their best to have a happy and healthy family always.”

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Miranda Siwak