Tom Brady's family are his "biggest supporters"

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback - who has Benjamin, 12, and Vivian, nine, with his wife Gisele Bundchen, as well as John, 14, with Bridget Moynahan - said: "As I've got older, I think the best part is, football is extremely important in my life. It means a lot to me; I care a lot about what we're trying to accomplish as a team and I care a lot about my teammates.

"I have kids now too, and I care about them a lot as well. They've been my biggest supporters. My wife is my biggest supporter.

"It pains her to see me get hit out there, and she deserves what she needs from me as a husband and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad."

Tom is keen to spend time at home after the Buccaneers' recent defeat, which ended their Super Bowl dreams.

But, at this stage, he doesn't know whether he'll return to the NFL next season.

He told the 'Let's Go!' podcast: "I'm going to spend some time with them and give them what they need, because they've really been giving me what I need the last six months to be able to do what I love to do.

"I said this a few years ago, it's what relationships are all about.

It's not always what I want. It's what we want as a family. And I'm going to spend a lot of time with them and figure out in the future what's next."