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Tom v. Gisele

It was recently announced that Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen were proceeding with a divorce. This wasn’t terribly surprising as the gossip columns had been talking about their marital problems for several months.

Mr. Brady initially retired from professional football after the 2021 season, but over the summer had a change of heart and came out of retirement to play this season. Anyone who has followed his career knows that this season has been much different for him. By every metric, most importantly his team’s record, something has been “off.” The experts have suggested that his age (45!) has finally caught up to him. But if you watch him play, his arm strength is still there, his mobility isn’t any drastically less than before, his ability to read the defense is still top-notch, and he still has lots of talented players surrounding him. But things certainly aren’t clicking for him and his team.

As we do with all famous people, we have clearly overlooked the obvious – these people are human. I’d suggest that the issue this season for Mr. Brady isn’t age, teammates, or his change of heart regarding retirement. I’d suggest that Mr. Brady is suffering from what everyone going through a divorce suffers from – a broken heart.

Everyone can suffer from a broken heart

No one gets married thinking they’ll wind up getting divorced. An old survey of newlyweds revealed that while all surveyed understood that roughly 50% of all marriages end in divorce, 100% of those surveyed answered that they expected to stay married until death. And having watched hundreds of people go through a divorce, it doesn’t matter whether it’s uncontested or contested, whether there are minor children involved or not, whether religion or politics lead to the divorce, whether there is any estate to divide, whether there was adultery, cruel treatment, or the marriage was just irretrievably broken, there is one constant among every one of those clients – they suffered from a broken heart. Even if they truly no longer wanted to be married.

The same is no doubt true for Ms. Bundchen, but she’s not playing professional football and is arguably less in the spotlight, at least during the fall football season. But the truth is the truth. This couple, like all the millions going through the same life change, are having to figure out how to work, how to live, how to make it to the next day while feeling like their lives are being wholly and completely changed and while feeling heartbreak every day that the process goes on.

So to the experts who are saying Tom Terrific isn’t so terrific anymore, I’d suggest that they reconsider that the issue isn’t necessarily physical. No one goes on the Injured Reserve list for a broken heart, but it’s probably the biggest injury he’s suffered during his career.

30 years of experience in the Atlanta metro

Most of the folks reading this are probably not multi-super bowl ring-winning athletes. Still, we know how to help deal with the legal tangles a divorce can bring up. We’ve got the reputation and resume to guide you and put you on a better path forward. We offer consultations in person at any of our offices in Atlanta, Marietta, Lawrenceville, Cumming, or Savannah. We also happily offer virtual consultations via Zoom or over the phone. Contact us online or call our toll-free number at 866-687-8561 to schedule an appointment with any of our attorneys.

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