There's a common belief Gisele Bündchen wants Tom Brady to finally retire from the NFL.
Perhaps it's true. After all, Brady is 45 years old and in the midst of his 23rd season. As a seven-time Super Bowl champion, he has nothing left to prove on the football field, and walking away (finally) would allow him to settle down with his family.
But consider the optics for a second: a wife begging her husband to hang up his cleats, all while he fends off her requests.
Chantal Fernandez of ELLE, a woman's fashion magazine, recently suggested to Bündchen that it all seems sexist. The supermodel agreed.
Here's what Fernandez wrote of her interaction with Bündchen in a piece published Tuesday:
"Although she and her husband have joked about his potential retirement for years, Bündchen is often depicted by the media as desperate for Brady to call it quits. I tell her the characterization seems sexist to me, and she agrees. 'I think this is the system we've been living in. That's what society has accepted and what society hasn't accepted.' Ultimately, she wants him to be happy and she knows better than anyone how much he loves the sport."
All in all, it's been an eventual few months for Brady and Bündchen. First, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback announced his retirement from the NFL on Feb. 1, only to unretire 40 days later. Then, he stepped away from Bucs training camp for 11 days, citing personal reasons, and there since have been various reports about Brady and Bündchen going through marital problems.
Still, Bündchen took to social media Sunday to show support for Brady ahead of Tampa Bay's Week 1 game against the Dallas Cowboys. And while she might have "concerns" about Brady continuing his NFL career, it's entirely possible, if not likely, Bündchen simply wants him around more and that rumors of her being desperate for her husband to come home are a bit overblown.
