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When Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen got divorced in October of 2022, there was speculation that the QB's decision to return to the NFL in March caused the split. Bündchen says that is not the case.

In an interview with Vanity Fair published on Wednesday, Bündchen denied that the couple split because Brady chose to play another season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She noted that the reasons for the divorce were far more complex:

"Wow, people really made it about that. What's been said is one piece of a much bigger puzzle. It's not so black and white... Sometimes you grow together; sometimes you grow apart. When I was 26 years old and he was 29 years old, we met, we wanted a family, we wanted things together. As time goes by, we realize that we just wanted different things, and now we have a choice to make.

"That doesn't mean you don't love the person. It just means that in order for you to be authentic and truly live the life that you want to live, you have to have somebody who can meet you in the middle, right? It's a dance. It's a balance."

Brady and Bündchen got married in 2009 and spent a total of 16 years together before getting divorced. Throughout Brady's lengthy and successful NFL career, Bünchen and their children could be spotted at his games.

Brady had an uneven 2022 season, and it ended with the Dallas Cowboys crushing the Buccaneers in the NFL Wild Card round. 

Roughly one year after he announced his initial retirement, Brady called it quits after 23 seasons.