Aaron Donald’s return to the Los Angeles Rams has brought Gisele Bundchen back into the NFL spotlight, reviving comparisons with Tom Brady’s controversial retirement reversal.
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year ended his retirement after agreeing to a one-year, $20 million contract with the Rams. His wife, Erica Donald, immediately celebrated the decision on social media.
“I let him out of the house y’all,”
Erica wrote alongside laughing and heart emojis. NFL insider Clarence Hill Jr. responded by comparing her support with Gisele Bundchen’s public reaction to Brady’s return to football.
“If only Gisele Bundchen had been equally supportive,”
Hill wrote.
Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady retirement debate resurfaces
The comment reopened debate about Brady’s brief retirement in 2022. Brady initially stepped away from the NFL, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family, but reversed the decision six weeks later.
Bundchen publicly supported Brady at the time, although she later expressed concerns about his return to the NFL. Reports also indicated that the couple were experiencing marital problems before they filed for divorce in October 2022.
That history gave Hill’s comparison added significance, although Donald’s situation appears to be markedly different.
Aaron Donald credits Erica with supporting his NFL comeback
Donald said his return to the Rams would not have happened without his wife’s approval.
“I think my wife played a huge part in this, me making this decision, period,” Donald said. “Because, if the wife wasn’t happy, it wasn’t gonna get done. We gotta make sure that the household was good. The kid was okay with it all, having them hard conversations, figuring things out. What I wanted to do, if I was gonna do it, how would we do it.”
He said Erica ultimately gave him her full backing.
“So, my wife was onboard. She said, ‘If you wanna do this, just put your 100%.’ … She played a huge part in me figuring this out because it really wasn’t an easy decision.”
Donald first met Erica in 2015 while she was working for the Rams, and the couple later married privately.
Donald’s comeback may be a personal decision for his family, but one social media exchange was enough to bring Bundchen and Brady’s old retirement drama back into the NFL conversation.
