Gisele on when Brady should retire: 'It's his decision'

Gisele Bundchen insisted that she will not sack Tom Brady's NFL career.

The supermodel wife of the New England Patriots star quarterback told the Wall Street Journal recently that the 40-year-old Brady ultimately will make the decision when the time is right to end his playing career.

"It's not my decision to make," Bundchen told the newspaper. "It's his decision, and he knows it. It wouldn't be fair any other way. He's so focused right now. He has a laser focus on just winning and being the best, and I said, 'You know what? This is what you're doing right now in your life, and you need to feel complete in it, because if I'm the one who comes and says something and then you make a decision based on something that I said ..."

Her sentence was completed by the reporter with the phrase "He'd resent it?"

"Yeah, and I would never in my life, ever," she said. "I want him to be happy. Believe me, I've been with him when he's losing. Try to be with him after you have lost (Super Bowls). I mean, I had my fair share, OK? As long as he's happy, he's going to be a better father, he's going to be a better husband, and I just want him to be happy. I do have my concerns, like anyone would."

Brady noted that his wife wanted him to retire shortly after Super Bowl LI, when the Patriots overcame a 25-point deficit to post a stirring 34-28 overtime win over the Atlanta Falcons.

"Too bad, babe," Brady said of his response at the time.

Brady, who is signed through 2019, threw for a league-best 4,577 yards and 32 touchdowns with only eight interceptions this past season en route to winning his third NFL Most Valuable Player Award.

He is the oldest player to receive the award and the fourth to win it three or more times (Peyton Manning, five; Brett Favre and Johnny Unitas, three apiece). Brady was also the NFL MVP after the 2007 and 2010 seasons.

With Brady at quarterback, the Patriots have won the AFC East title a record 15 times.