Tom Brady said he hopes his three children experience failure in their lives as a learning experience.
The 45-year-old Tampa Bay Buccanneers quarterback discussed his theory of resiliency during a podcast interview with Jim Gray for the “Let’s Go” podcast.
“In life, you try a lot of things, and you fail. It’s part of life. We try things, we really push ourselves to try something new, and it doesn’t go the way we want. So what do you do? Do you care less? Do you care more? Or do you take the experience for what it was and try to learn from it and grow from it and find the resilience we all want to teach our children?” Brady said.
While the longtime NFL player has the means to make his kids, John “Jack” Edward, 15, Benjamin Rein, 13, and Vivian Lake, 10, financially set no matter what, he’d much rather they experience disappointment in life.
“I don’t want it to go right for my kids all the time,” Brady continued. “I told them that this morning. I said, ‘I want you guys to fail because I want to see what you’re made of if you fail and when you fail.'”
“Because life isn’t gonna be just a smooth ride, so we have to develop resiliency. You know, schools teach that. Sports teach that, a lot of things are taught through that,” he said.
While the star quarterback said it’s “hard for everybody in society” to experience failure, he also believes that going through those negative experiences is important. To that end, Brady said he’s grateful for being able to teach his kids life lessons like navigating failure as he tries “to be a good parent and present for them, and be a good example and role model.”
He concluded: “In the end, what do I always tell my kids? ‘All you can do is the best you can do.’ Just do the best you can do, I don’t care whether you win or lose, just do your best, and you’ll be proud of it. We’re all cool with that if you did your best.”
Last year Brady split from his wife of 13 years, model Gisele Bündchen.
“We arrived at this decision amicably and with gratitude for the time we spent together,” Brady said as part of a statement announcing his divorce. “We are blessed with beautiful and wonderful children who will continue to be the center of our world in every way. We will continue to work together as parents to always ensure they receive the love and attention they deserve.”