A new biography of Tom Brady says the quarterback’s 2022 absence from Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp lasted 11 days, time the book says he asked for as an extended leave so he could try to repair his marriage to Gisele Bündchen privately in the Bahamas.

Author Lars Anderson wrote “Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness,” which reached bookstores Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, published by Celadon Books. It draws on interviews with coaches and people close to the seven-time Super Bowl champion, and it devotes substantial space to the months before the divorce became public, giving a detailed account of the summer the marriage collapsed.

Thirteen years of marriage ended for Brady, 49, and Bündchen, 46, when the two finalized their divorce in October 2022. They have a son, Benjamin, and a daughter, Vivian. Brady also has a son, Jack, 19, with his former girlfriend, actress Bridget Moynahan.

A Quiet Retreat to the Bahamas

Quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen recalled being told by Brady, according to Sept. 30 reporting on the book: “I’ve got to take care of some personal things.”

Anderson writes that Christensen recalled a hollowed-out, lifeless look in Brady’s eyes and wondered whether Brady was in some form of psychological shock. Anderson writes that something bad had blindsided the 45-year-old Brady and drained him of his vitality.

Brady reported to camp nearly 20 pounds lighter, and coaches and teammates worried he was sick. Bruce Arians, the former Buccaneers coach, saw no mystery about the cause and told Anderson it was the stress of the personal trouble Brady was carrying. Arians said Brady took pride in his conditioning, making the transformation jarring to those who knew him, and that Brady seemed miserable and badly stressed.

One coach told Anderson that Brady “looked like a cancer patient with really good hair.” People attributed the line to Arians.

The book sets that summer against an earlier scene: the Buccaneers won Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7, 2021, and the couple celebrated together afterward at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

An Unexpected Reason for the Split

The book says Bündchen wrote Brady a letter in 2018 saying “their marriage wasn’t working” and that “She needed more of him, more of his time, more of his attention, more of his heart.” She wanted him present at home, more help with the children and more time for her own career, the book says.

A former teammate, quoted in the book, said of Bündchen: “She was getting tired of living on Tom’s schedule and being somewhat in his shadow during football season.” The book also quotes Bündchen telling Brady: “We’re not compatible.”

Anderson traces a series of disagreements between the couple over football and family. An unnamed source quoted by Anderson says the decisive moment arrived from an unexpected direction. The same source says what set it in motion is harder to pin down, and raises several possibilities: years of Bündchen feeling she was not Brady’s top priority; his refusal to retire once she had asked him to; or a spiritual adviser who pushed her toward ending the marriage. The source insists in the book that this was nothing like an ordinary marital breakdown.

As of Oct. 1, Anderson publicly addressed and clarified rumors about the timeline of Brady’s relationships with Moynahan and Bündchen.

Cryptic Messages on Instagram

Joaquim Valente, Bündchen’s new husband, became a father in February 2025 when she welcomed her first child with him. Anderson writes that Brady was stung by the timing of the pregnancy.

Brady — now a Fox Sports analyst — posted a passage on social media less than 24 hours after the birth, one arguing that the way to be loved is to love, the way to be interesting is to be interested and the way to have a friend is to be one. Anderson writes that more than a few people with close ties to Brady took it as coded commentary on how he felt at the end of the marriage.

A second post came just over a month after the birth: a photograph taken at UCLA’s practice facility, with Brady’s right arm extended, the ball spiraling out of his hand and the throw climbing into a sunset. The caption read, “True Love.” Anderson writes that “True Love” was the same phrase Bündchen had used again and again to describe Brady’s relationship with football.

Anderson writes of the "True Love" post: “To those who knew Brady well, there was nothing ambiguous about the post,” adding, “One friend described it as ‘the softest middle finger’ ever given to an ex-­wife.”

As of Sept. 30, representatives for Brady and Bündchen had not commented on the book’s claims.

Bündchen has spoken at length about her own wellness in the years since. An episode of “The Rich Roll Podcast” went out on March 25, 2024, and on it she discussed battling anxiety and panic attacks, her decision to abstain from alcohol, the boundaries she has set, her environmental advocacy and her hands-on approach to parenting.