Tom Brady Quietly Volunteered At A Tampa Animal Shelter Throughout Football Season
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“It wasn’t about publicity, fundraising, or recognition. It was about being a human being.”
Ashley Bragg Ryan/@coolmombreezy/Instagram
In the moments after Tom Brady announced his retirement from football “for good” this week, the news was flooded with stories about NFL stats, rings, and records. But one story, told by someone who knows Brady personally, seems to have gotten overlooked amongst the passing yards and touchdowns.
Ashley Bragg Ryan, wife of Buccaneers safety Logan Ryan, took to Instagram Wednesday to pay tribute to another side of Brady—one that involves regularly volunteering at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay with his kids.
"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," Bragg Ryan wrote. "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."
Bragg Ryan included a photo from August showing Brady kids Benjamin, 13, and Vivian, 10, holding puppies and kittens alongside her own husband and daughter. She also shared a video of the NFL legend in a pen filled with nibbling puppies.
She went on to add that they didn't take many photos of their shared shelter visits, because “it wasn’t about publicity, fundraising or recognition.”
“It was about being a human being,” Bragg Ryan went on to explain. “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.”
Well done, Tom!
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