Tom Brady‘s been handing out his FOX Sports LFG! Player of the Game for quite some time now. And on Thanksgiving in week 13, there was zero doubt who earned it. With 10 pressures, 4 QB hits, and 2.5 sacks, Green Bay‘s Micah Parsons terrorized Detroit in a 31-24 victory and walked away with Brady’s stamp of approval. Getting that kind of nod from Tom Brady? On Thanksgiving? That’s the honor NFL players dream about. But seems like while Parsons feasted on the Lions, there’s one more thing he wanted on Thanksgiving.

“I got my kids at home. I got the kids for the holidays, and I’m gonna sprint home to the kids, and I just miss them so much. Can’t wait to hug them. As a dad, I realized their sacrifice. You know how hard it is Tom,” Parsons said to Brady via FOX Sports after the game. 

Parsons is a single dad to a six-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter. In a lot of ways, that puts him in the same lane as Tom Brady, who’s also a single father to three and has missed Thanksgiving with his children…first for his team, and now for FOX. The 7-time Super Bowl champion has been open about how tough it is to miss Thanksgiving with his kids, and FOX’s schedule hasn’t made it any easier.

During a broadcast this week of the Packers-49ers game, Brady was shocked to find out he’d be working the holiday. But he jockingly chipped it off, as he is “used to” the schedule, and this wasn’t the first time he had to miss Thanksgiving because of broadcast duties.

The $375 million contract with FOX hasn’t been all sunshine for Brady. In 2024, he spent Thanksgiving calling the Giants–Cowboys game while his kids, Benjamin, 15, and Vivian, 12, were away with ex-wife Gisele Bundchen to Costa Rica, and Jack, 18, wasn’t with him either.

So, while everyone celebrates, Brady sometimes spends the day working solo for football. Seems like sometimes the GOAT pays the price for greatness.

Tom Brady juggles between football and fatherhood

Tom Brady hasn’t shied away from keeping it real. He’s admitted that his all-in football grind took a toll at home. The nonstop commitment, the long season, the constant pressure…it all added up. And he knows it created a real strain on his family and his role as a father.

“We’re more than a third of the way through the NFL season now,” he said last month. “School is in full swing for the kids. Personally, I’ve had another amazing CardVault store grand opening, a couple of great collabs with Speed, another with Oz the Mentalist, and then there were the regular media hits as part of my role on FOX and the regular duties I have as a dad, a son, a business partner, an investor, and an owner.”

“Needless to say, I’ve been busy. It’s been a crazy October. Last week it all finally caught up to me. I was rundown and a little under the weather.”

Despite everything, Brady still stands by the grind. He calls it the price of greatness, even though he knows that chasing history came with a real cost. That’s what is the sign of elite players like him and Parsons…owing to the sacrifices while admitting the toll on the people you love.