FOXBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - Tom Brady opened up about his mother’s illness during a call into the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon, saying he played last season while dealing with the distraction of his mother’s cancer treatments.
Brady called into the Kirk and Callahan show Tuesday morning, one day later than his scheduled Monday appearance, to join the telethon and talk about how cancer has impacted his life over the past year.
“She’s doing really well,” Brady said of his mother, Galynn. “She couldn’t be any better considering everything she’s gone through. Everyone in our family is so happy. She got some tests back that were really positive and she’s on the road to recovery. We’re all very happy with that.”
Brady said his mother surprised him at practice last week, then again when his wife, Gisele Bundchen, surprised him with a birthday party last weekend.
The five-time Super Bowl champ said leading his team to the Super Bowl was a challenge, but he had plenty of motivation.
“It was a very challenging time for our family,” Brady said. “My mom has been such an important, supportive, loving, caring, sweet, kind, generous mom. You want to be able to be there for her in moments like that. You just do the best you can do from afar. Obviously, with playing football, it is hard to do that because there is a commitment to a team that needs you also. I knew my dad was taking good care of her and like I said leading up to the Super Bowl, my dad had only been to one game all season. They hadn’t been at any of those games over the course of the year together, which was the first time in my entire playing career.
“So it was really special when she was at the Super Bowl. Really special to celebrate with her and she was really looking forward to going to the Super Bowl. I wanted her to be there and I wanted our team to get there. Fortunately, we were able to get there. It was a really special time for our family. We have such great memories being there together. It’s great that it turned out the way it did just because it really — her treatments were ending at that point. It kind of signified not only the end of the season, but what she was going through, what our family was going through. It was a great way to finish the year.”
Brady opened up about the challenges of being across the country and away from his family and said the support from friends and family members was incredible.
“My mom going through it, but my dad was right there along side every step of the way,” he said during the call. “I am on the other coast, so I wasn’t there on a daily basis. I could only offer certain kinds of support in certain ways from afar. A lot of it was happening during the football season and my sisters were there every day bringing my mom to her appointments and her treatments and really providing different kinds of support and care that she needed.
My dad was there every step of the way. My mom’s friends and my dad’s friends, everyone. Everyone wants to contribute and help in anyway they can. You’re always trying to figure out ways you can help and for me as an individual, you just do the best you can do. Certainly, to see my mom now and come through it, I think she probably has a different perspective, too. You never know what happens in this life and I think we appreciate all these days that we have and appreciate the moments we have with each other.”
Brady, 40, says he can’t imagine having gone through the ordeal at a younger age.
“It’s very challenging for all these families to deal with,” he said. “Hopefully we can keep inching our way toward finding better solutions and cures and treatments and helping people lead better lives.”
Brady also put to rest a rumor that had been circulating — about how long he’ll be playing.
“I won’t be playing when I’m 55,” he said. “Probably not 55. But it will be nice to someday just have a nice, quiet birthday. But actually the fact that I was able to just go out and practice (on my birthday) and be on the field doing something I love to do, that was a good day for me.”
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