Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady’s relationship may be crossing the line of scrimmage before the ball is even snapped.
The couple has been scrambling away from rumors of marital issues for months, but each reportedly hired divorce lawyers recently, according to Page Six.
Brady’s representatives had no comment when reached by Fox News Digital about reports that the seven-time Super Bowl champion and his wife had each hired divorce attorneys.
“Gisele is waiting for Tom to make a big gesture of support to her,” a source told Us Weekly.
But psychotherapist Dr. Robi Ludwig previously explained to Fox News Digital that Brady likely can’t “focus” on his family while playing professional football. After Brady announced he would be returning to the league only 40 days following the news of his retirement, it seemed as though a fracture was forming in their usually unbreakable bond.
TOM BRADY AND GISELE BUNDCHEN’S RELATIONSHIP THROUGH THE YEARS
“My sense is Gisele wants Tom to focus on her and the family in a way that he can’t while working as a professional football player,” Ludwig said. “When Tom is playing football, he’s all in. The focus has to be primarily on himself, which is a problem. Does Gisele think Tom is self-centered and selfish? I suppose we’ll find out.
“I would imagine Gisele wants her feelings, wishes and goals to matter, in addition to her husband’s. All relationships have conflicts. It’s how these conflicts are handled that determine the quality of the relationship.”
The couple reportedly stayed in separate residences in Miami after evacuating from Hurricane Ian last week with their kids. They also spent most of the summer living apart, and he took an 11-day vacation to the Bahamas with two of his children, Benjamin and Vivian, while Gisele stayed back in New York.
Another source told Page Six that while they’ve “grown apart” from each other, adding, “There is absolutely no accusation of cheating on either side.”
Alessandra Conti, Celebrity Matchmaker & Dating Expert at Matchmakers In The City, exclusively told Fox News Digital that Gisele could be “frustrated” with her husband’s decision, but the couple needs “open communication” to survive this match.
“Things could go multiple ways for Tom and Gisele,” Conti previously said. “I believe that they are strong enough as a couple to work through this setback, but open communication and a new set of expectations will be essential for them moving forward, or resentment may kick in for Gisele.”
The couple has been married for 13 years, but in 2015, Gisele admitted that her marriage to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback almost didn’t even happen.
Gisele and Tom had only been dating for two months when she found out his ex-girlfriend, Bridget Moynahan, was pregnant with his child.
Tom and Bridget began dating in early 2004, and announced the end of their relationship in December 2006 just before she found out she was pregnant.
“Dating a man who is about to have a child with another woman is complicated to say the least,” Conti said. “The fact that Tom and Gisele’s relationship has lasted for so long is the exception and not the rule; if this situation happened to a non-Hollywood couple, I would encourage the new couple to take a step back, and really discern if starting a brand-new relationship was the healthiest decision for everyone involved. Rebound relationships statistically have an incredibly low probability of success.”
She added, “Clearly, the two made the right decision for themselves, but Gisele did express that it was a challenging time for her.”
Tom and Gisele met weeks after his breakup with Bridget and began a romantic relationship, only to find out months later that Brady was going to be a father.
“It was a challenging thing because here I am, you know, thinking, ‘I’m dating this guy, we met, and we started dating and everything is great and then this happens,’” she said during a 2015 interview with CBS “This Morning.”
“So, then I felt like I didn’t know what to do. It was kind of one of those moments of like, ‘Do I just run away?’”
The Brazilian supermodel wrote in her 2018 memoir “Lessons” that hearing about Moynahan’s pregnancy was difficult, to say the least.
“The very next day, the news was everywhere, and I felt my world had been turned upside down. Needless to say, that wasn’t an easy time. But it was a time that brought about so much growth,” Gisele shared at the time.
Part of the contention in their marriage is due to his decision to come out of retirement earlier this year. Bündchen assumed Brady would have more time to spend with the family following years on the road as the all-time most winning quarterback.
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“Obviously, I have my concerns — this is a very violent sport, and I have my children, and I would like him to be more present,” she told Elle magazine in the October issue. “I think this is the system we’ve been living in,” she said while addressing sexist commentary about being desperate for Brady to retire.
“That’s what society has accepted and what society hasn’t accepted,” but she admitted she’s had “conversations with him over and over again” about him continuing to play at 45 years old.
“But ultimately, I feel that everybody has to make a decision that works for [them]. He needs to follow his joy, too,” she said.
Ludwig noted that “carefully evaluating” the relationship is “important.”
“It is not uncommon to have ambivalent feelings when deciding whether or not to invest in a long-term relationship,” Ludwig told Fox News Digital. “It’s not something people like to talk about because it conflicts with our cultural notion of true love and what true love looks like. Carefully evaluating who your partner is is an important piece of the commitment process.”
“I think most women would think twice about diving into a relationship when your partner has an ex who is pregnant,” she added. “Let’s be honest, it’s walking into an unpredictable and potentially toxic situation. The bottom line is: Gisele didn’t run away. Instead, she learned more about the situation, which helped her to stay with Tom.”
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Bündchen seemed ready to put football behind her after uprooting her family to be there for Brady as he pursued his passion for the sport.
“I’ve done my part, which is [to] be there for [Tom]. 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,” Bundchen added in the Elle interview. “Seeing my children succeed and become the beautiful little humans that they are, seeing him succeed and being fulfilled in his career — it makes me happy.”
Brady, who has son Benjamin, 12, and daughter Vivian, 9, with Bündchen, also shares co-parenting responsibilities of 15-year-old son, Jack, with Moynahan.
“At this point in my life, I feel like I’ve done a good job on that. I have a huge list of things that I have to do, that I want to do. At 42, I feel more connected with my purpose.”