Tom Brady relented to his daughter’s wishes.
On Wednesday, the 45-year-old retired quarterback posted an Instagram story with two Siamese mix kittens with the captions “Vivi wins again” — referring to Brady’s 10-year-old daughter, Vivian — and “This is what my mornings are like now. They are in good, loving hands.” Brady also tagged the Humane Society of Tampa, former Bucs teammate Logan Ryan and Ryan’s wife Ashley Bragg Ryan.
After Brady retired following 23 years in the NFL, Bragg Ryan wrote about how the quarterback and his kids volunteered at the animal shelter with little fanfare.
“I guess I’ll chime in with my Tom Brady story.. but it’s not the one about 7 Super Bowls or being down 28-3 or his last pass as a Patriot. We all know those,” she wrote on Instagram. “It’s the one about the dad who volunteered at the animal shelter with his kids throughout an entire football season. The one where he bonded with his kids over naming puppies and bottle feeding kittens. The one where he silently showed up every other week to make a difference for his family and his community. The one where 2 dads just got to be dads and beamed with pride every time their kids said ‘Please can we just stay a little bit longer?!’ The one where two little girls built a friendship around their love of tiny baby kittens and did their part in making the world a better place for animals.
“These pictures were from August and we didn’t take many more after that. Not publicly at least. It wasn’t about publicity, fundraising or recognition. It was about being a human being. It was about Tom taking the very thing his little girl loves the most and turning it into an opportunity to spend time together. It was about Tom reaching out to his friend, asking how to get involved, helping his community by giving something far more meaningful than money.. his time. Greatest QB of all time, no doubt. But I’m humbled most by the person you are off the field, TB! Congrats!”
A representative for the Tampa Humane Society told People that Vivian was particularly drawn to these two kittens, and that they reached out to Brady to adopt them.
“Everyone at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay is very thankful that Tom Brady and his kids have been volunteering at our shelter for months,” Regan Blessinger, an official with the nonprofit, told the outlet. “From socializing our kittens to walking dogs, he is obviously a great dad and a true animal lover. When they came to volunteer, it was evident that Vivian and the whole Brady family enjoyed their time with the under-aged kittens still needing to be bottle-fed.”
Brady got divorced from model Gisele Bündchen during the season. The former couple shared daughter Vivian and 13-year-old son Benjamin. Brady is also the father of 15-year-old son Jack from a previous relationship with actress Bridget Moynahan.