Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen has admitted to being worried about Tom Brady while the QB was struggling with his divorce.
Christensen, who has since retired, played an instrumental role in the Bucs’ Super Bowl win in 2021. He got pretty close to Brady, who he says was blindsided by his ex-wife, Gisele Bundchen, when she asked for a split.
I’ve never seen Tom Brady this PISSED before… ?https://t.co/X45LjUwgPR
— TPS (@TotalProSports) January 24, 2023
Brady needed to take off during training camp last year, staying away for 11 days. The distress was evident as he lost several pounds, while his performances were also affected.
Speaking to the Tampa Bay Times, the former QB coach admitted to being worried about Brady. He also claimed to respect the veteran for continuing to show up amid the stressful period.
“Yeah, I worried about him,” he said. “He lost that weight. It was very stressful. And he battled and he hurt, but he put on the brave face and did it again. You’ve got a bunch of folks depending on you. I have an unbelievable respect for what Tom did this year. Off-the-charts amount of respect for him just managing things.”
The Bucs snuck into the playoffs with an 8-9 record but lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round.
Christensen also noted that it was heartbreaking to see Brady have to leave camp to deal with everything that came with the divorce.
“To watch Tom have to leave training camp for 11 days to take care of some personal problems, it was heartbreaking stuff,” he recalled. “A divorce. Worrying about his kids. Hard stuff. But then you’re still expected to do your job when you get back. No one cares. And you’ve got a team. You have everyone depending on you. The show goes on.”
