Tom Brady's seemingly simple Instagram post about his 'True Love' has been given a much more pointed interpretation in a new biography about the former NFL star, with a friend describing it as a 'softest middle finger' to his ex-wife Gisele Bündchen.
According to Lars Anderson's Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness, Brady shared a photograph of himself throwing a football around a month after Bündchen welcomed her first child with Joaquim Valente in February 2025. The timing and wording of the post reportedly caught the attention of people close to Brady, particularly because 'True Love' was a phrase Bündchen had repeatedly used when discussing her former husband's relationship with football.
What Did Tom Brady Post?
The photograph showed Brady extending his right arm as he threw a football against a golden sunset. Beneath the image, he wrote simply: 'True Love'.
On its own, the post could easily have been read as another tribute to the sport that defined Brady's career. However, Anderson argues that the wording had a more personal significance.
The author writes that Instagram was Brady's preferred form of public communication, particularly when his posts could be cryptic. According to the book, people close to Brady saw 'no ambiguity' in the timing and choice of words.
One friend quoted by Anderson described the post as the 'softest middle finger' to Bündchen. Importantly, that interpretation comes from the biography and people around Brady. Brady himself has not publicly confirmed that the post was intended as a message to his former wife.
Why 'True Love' Was Significant
The choice of caption reportedly carried particular weight because of Bündchen's own description of Brady's relationship with football.
Anderson says the phrase was one she had repeatedly used to describe her then-husband's devotion to the sport. That makes the caption more intriguing when placed against the history of their marriage, which ended in October 2022 after 13 years.
The former couple share two children, Benjamin and Vivian. Brady also has a son, Jack, from his previous relationship with Bridget Moynahan.
Bündchen has since moved into a new chapter of her personal life. She welcomed a son with Valente in February 2025, more than two years after her divorce from Brady was finalised.
The Instagram post appeared approximately one month after that birth.
The Football Tension Behind Their Divorce
Anderson's biography also revisits the difficulties surrounding the end of Brady and Bündchen's marriage, particularly the former quarterback's decision to continue playing football.
According to excerpts reported by PEOPLE, Brady took an 11-day absence from Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp in 2022 while attempting to work on his marriage. The book claims he took the time away to make a final effort to keep his family together.
The biography, which draws on more than 350 interviews, explores how Brady's intense commitment to football affected his career and personal life. Celadon Books describes the book as an examination of the personal cost of his pursuit of sporting greatness.
That history provides additional context for why the phrase 'True Love' could have been interpreted as more than a simple football caption.
Gisele Bündchen's New Chapter
Bündchen, one of the fashion world's most recognisable supermodels, has continued her career and public life since the divorce while building a new family with Valente.
Her relationship with the jiu-jitsu instructor became public after her split from Brady, and the couple welcomed their son in February 2025. The timing of Brady's Instagram post is central to Anderson's account of its alleged meaning.
Yet there is still no direct confirmation that Brady intended the photograph as a message to Bündchen.
Representatives for both Brady and Bündchen did not immediately respond to a news media outlet's request for comment when the publication reported the claims on 28 September 2026.
What Does the Book Claim?
Brady: An American Story and the Price of Greatness was released by Celadon Books on 29 September 2026. The biography is based on years of reporting and more than 350 original interviews with people who knew Brady throughout his life and career.
The book's account does not establish Brady's intention as fact. Instead, it offers the interpretation of people familiar with him, connecting the timing of the Instagram post, the wording of the caption and Bündchen's previous use of the phrase.
That leaves the central question unanswered: was 'True Love' simply Brady celebrating the game that shaped his life, or was it a subtle message to his former wife?
According to Anderson's biography, at least one person close to Brady believed the latter, calling it the 'softest middle finger' of all.
