NFL star Tom Brady admits divorce from Gisele caused his bad performances

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady has finally admitted that emotional struggles during his divorce with Gisele Bundchen have affected his mental state in what has been the worst season in his 23-year career.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion spoke about getting "distracted" during his disappointing season while on the "Let's Go!" Podcast. He was on the show with Jim Gray and special guest, Sean Payton, who is a former New Orleans Saints head coach.

"Emotionally, that's where I think as you get older the challenges really come in, you know, because we can get distracted by other parts of life and not distracted in a bad way but there's priorities that take over," the 45-year-old quarterback said.

It has been speculated that the major point of contention between him and the Brazilian supermodel is his absence from the lives of his growing children due to the demands of the NFL season.

"So I've tried my best over the years to maintain what's important to me. And been very fortunate to play a sport that I love. And, as I said, why do I play? Because the competition is great."

Brady also hinted that being able to put out top performances on the field requires his full mental attention, something that he was not able to do amid the divorce. "You know, mentally, and as we talked about with Coach (Sean) Payton, there's such a drive mentally to always come up with the next great play, or the next great concept, or the next great scream," he said, as quoted by Marca.

Brady also spoke about the longevity of his career after he decided to return to the NFL after initially announcing his retirement back in February. "Why have I done it as long as I have? You know, physically, I've explained that and I've tried to take care of myself."

The NFL star did not speak of having any regrets over the breakdown of his marriage, and appears to stand firm on his decision to continue playing. The couple was together for 13 years and share two children together. Bundchen also helped Brady co-parent his son with former partner Bridget Moynahan.