Tom Brady Thinks Modern Parenting Is Too Easy on Kids—and He’s Not Wrong

Tom Brady has never been afraid of a challenge, and now, he’s calling out what he sees as one of the biggest problems with modern parenting. The retired NFL star and entrepreneur thinks some are too quick to rescue our kids from failure.

In a candid conversation at Fortune’s Global Forum in New York last November, the seven-time Super Bowl champion and dad of three reflected on how much the world—and parenting in particular—has changed since his own teenage years.

“Think of today’s world, how we screw these kids up,” Brady said during the event. “Every time they mess up, we send them to an easier place to succeed.”

For Brady, who famously went from being the 199th pick in the NFL Draft to one of the most decorated players in football history, that mindset misses the point. Failure, he says, is the foundation of success—not something to be avoided.

The Hardest Things End Up Being the Best Things

Brady recalled spending years grinding through high school football before finally earning a starting quarterback spot as a senior. In today’s world, he said, a kid might simply switch schools to find a shortcut. “We’ve all faced different challenges in life; we’ve all faced our own adversities,” he told Fortune. “We look back at those and realize they’re the best things that could’ve happened.”

The lesson stuck. Looking back on his 23 seasons in the NFL, Brady said his career wouldn’t have existed without those early tests of grit. “There’s no way I would’ve had that success had I not gone through all the challenges of high school and college sports,” he said.

The Value of Being Uncomfortable

As both a former team captain and a dad, Brady sees comfort as the enemy of growth. “They’re told they’re great; people coddle them; they never have to push beyond their limits,” he said of young athletes today. “Even some of the best athletes in the world never have to go outside their comfort zone.”

Research backs up Brady’s point. A 2022 study in Frontiers in Psychology found that kids who experience mild challenges and frustration develop stronger coping skills and emotional resilience; traits that help them handle bigger obstacles later in life.

That’s why, when he led teams, Brady made it his mission to push players past what they thought they could handle. “They had to show up every day with a good attitude,” he said. “Be humble when things go well, and curious to learn more when they don’t.”

Parenting the Way He Was Raised

When it comes to his own kids (Jack who he had with actress Bridget Moynahan, and Benjamin and Vivian who he had with supermodel Gisele Bündchen), Brady is taking a page straight out of his parents’ playbook. “The blessing my parents gave: When I was that long-shot as a kid who was a backup quarterback, they never said, ‘Don’t do that, it’ll be too hard,’” he said. “They said, ‘Go for it.’ That’s probably my parenting style.”

It’s a perspective many parents might find both challenging and inspiring, especially in a world where it’s easier than ever to smooth every bump in our kids’ paths.

Brady’s message isn’t about tough love for toughness’ sake. It’s about giving kids the gift of struggle because that’s where resilience, confidence, and self-belief are built.