FOXBORO, Mass. — Tom Brady’s life has changed a lot since he entered the NFL more than a decade-and-a-half ago.
The fresh-faced University of Michigan product now is a 38-year-old married father of three, and he’s learned over the course of his 16 NFL seasons how to balance the responsibilities of raising a family with the pressures of life as the New England Patriots’ starting quarterback.
“It’s a lot different,” Brady said during his Wednesday morning news conference at Gillette Stadium. “When your daughter doesn’t get any sleep at night and you’re up, that’s part of us being parents and dealing with things at home and stuff. There’s a lot less time to recover if you miss nights of sleep, (but) I think things are pretty efficient for me this time of year. I’ve been at it, and my kids are getting a little older now, too. So, at least I’ve had a few years to kind of get into a routine.
“I think that’s probably a challenging thing for a lot of players in our career. Family is a big part of everyone’s life, and then to add it to a really busy football schedule, it’s a lot of give-and-take. It takes a lot of support to have.”
Several of Brady’s Patriots teammates know that give-and-take all too well. Special teams captain Matthew Slater and his wife, Shahrzad, for example, welcomed their first child in late November, forcing the five-time Pro Bowler to quickly adapt to life as both a father and a pro football player.
“My wife is the MVP,” Slater said. “She’s really been great about that, allowing me to take care of the business here that I need to, but my family will always be the most important thing to me, and football will always come after my family.
“Definitely, there is time management involved; I can’t dilly-dally around here like I used to. But I’m excited about what’s going on at home, and obviously excited about what’s going on here.”
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@AOLSports
