After Gisele Bundchen claimed that her husband Tom Brady suffered a concussion at some point during the 2016 season, the NFL released a statement on Wednesday saying "there are no records" that indicate the Patriots quarterback suffered a head injury at all.
During an interview with "CBS This Morning" that aired on Wednesday, not only did Gisele say that Tom Brady suffered a concussion last year, but she also added that "he does have concussions," implying that he's suffered multiple concussions since they've been together.
The league clearly took Gisele's comments seriously, because just hours after the interview aired, the NFL released a statement saying that there was no evidence that Brady had suffered a concussion in 2016.
"We have reviewed all reports relating to Tom Brady from the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants and certified athletic trainer spotters who worked at Patriots' home and away 2016 season games as well as club injury reports that were sent to the league office," the league said. "There are no records that indicate that Mr. Brady suffered a head injury or concussion, or exhibited or complained of concussion symptoms."
The league also added that it plans to work with the NFLPA to get more information on Brady's health.
"We have been in contact with the NFLPA and will work together to gather more information from the club's medical staff and Mr. Brady," the NFL said. "The health and safety of our players is our foremost priority and we want to ensure that all our players have and continue to receive the best care possible."
For the NFL, this is about as awkward as things can possibly get: The league's most high-profile wife is saying that the league's most high-profile player played through a head injury, which obviously makes the league look bad.
For years, the NFL had been under fire for the way it handled concussion-related injuries. In an effort to fix things, the league added an independent concussion specialist to each team's sideline beginning in 2013. That move came two years after the league was hit with a class-action lawsuit over concussions.
That lawsuit eventually led to a $1 billion settlement after going through the court system for nearly six years. Thousands of players are expected to get some sort of payment from the settlement.
If after looking further into Brady's situation the NFL does find that he dealt with a concussion despite there being no existence of records of any head injury, the league could have a serious issue on its hands. If Brady hid his symptoms from the Patriots, and then complained about them in private to his wife, that's definitely a troublesome problem for the league to have.
