Celebrity Celebrity Family Celebrity Parenting Tom Brady Says He's 'Screwed Up a Lot as a Parent': 'Probably the Hardest Job All of Us Have' "I don’t want to seem like I’m some expert in parenting, because I’m certainly not," the NFL star said on Tuesday, Nov. 12 By Becca Longmire Becca Longmire Becca Longmire is a digital news writer-reporter at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on ET Canada, Metro and the Mail Online. People Editorial Guidelines Published on November 13, 2024 06:49AM EST Tom Brady with his kids Vivian, Benjamin and Jack. Photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Tom Brady is getting honest about parenting. During an appearance at the Fortune Global Forum in New York City on Tuesday, Nov. 12, the NFL legend, 47, spoke about being a father to his three kids; John "Jack" Edward Thomas, 17, whom he shares with his ex Bridget Moynahan, and Benjamin Rein, 14, and Vivian Lake, 11, whom he shares with ex-wife Gisele Bündchen. "Being a parent is probably the hardest job all of us have," Brady said, per a clip shared on X (formerly known as Twitter). "And we screw up a lot and I've screwed up a lot as a parent," he admitted. "I don’t want to seem like I’m some expert in parenting, because I’m certainly not that," the former New England Patriot continued. Tom Brady Says His 'Greatest Football Memory' Is Celebrating 2021 NFC Championship Victory with Son Jack The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now! Brady added that he tries to "be dependable and consistent for them" and supportive of what "they want to do in life" while talking about his "three amazing kids." He also gave a shoutout to his own parents, Galynn and Tom Brady Sr for supporting him when he "was that long shot as a kid, who was the backup quarterback on a freshman team." "They never said, ‘Man, don't do that. It's gonna be too hard. Let's do something different. Let's think about another backup plan,' " Brady told the audience. "They kinda said, ‘You know what? Go for it. Whatever you wanna be, go for it.' " "And that's probably my parenting style," he continued. Tom Brady with his kids Vivian, Benjamin and Jack. Tom Brady/Instagram Brady has often spoken openly about fatherhood alongside sharing regular family updates on social media. During an appearance on DeepCut with VicBlends in April, he said that he believed you can improve at being a parent. "You get better as a parent, I think, because you know when you’re a young parent, you don’t really know what you’re doing. You’re winging it. You’re trying to wing it," Brady said. Tom Brady Shares Sweet Text Messages with His 11-Year-Old Daughter Vivian: 'Always and Forever' Bridget Moynahan, Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen. Dia Dipasupil/Getty; Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty; Manny Hernandez/Wireimage Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. "So I think when you become a parent, you’re trying new things for the first time, you’re going through all these things for the first time, so you don’t exactly know always the right thing to say." "As you go, you get a little bit better at it, you get a little more understanding of it and you try to just continue to kind of refresh your skills as a parent," Brady added. "'Am I listening or am I talking? Am I mentoring, or am I disciplining? Am I holding them accountable or am I letting them get away with things?' ” the proud dad said at the time. Close