--- description: Tom Brady has had a tough year title: Tom Brady's "Boston Crew" Helped Him Through Tough Times image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt218d60033775940e/698868623c163917bc45a3b9/gettyimages-462643696.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why Tom Brady Turned to Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg Amid Deflategate and Divorce Rumors by [Tierney McAfee / People](/author/people/) ## Tierney McAfee / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 15, 2015 2:39 AM CUT  Tom Brady of the New England Patriots celebrates with Mark Wahlberg after defeating the Seattle Seahawks to win Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona. Tom Brady of the New England Patriots celebrates with Mark Wahlberg after defeating the Seattle Seahawks to win Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona.Tom Pennington—Getty Images by [Tierney McAfee / People](/author/people/) ## Tierney McAfee / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 15, 2015 2:39 AM CUT Between [fighting divorce rumors](http://www.people.com/article/tom-brady-denies-gisele-bundchen-divorce-rumors "undefined") alongside wife Gisele Bündchen, and coping with the backlash from his “Deflategate” [scandal](http://www.people.com/article/gisele-bunchen-shares-message-perfection-deflategate "undefined"), the 38-year-old Patriots star needs all the support he can get. Luckily he has his “Boston crew” – Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Mark Wahlberg – to turn to in his time of need. “I’ve been a displaced Californian living in Boston and realizing the roots and how strong the Boston culture is, so that’s where I’ve been for 16 years of my life,” Brady tells [_Entertainment Tonight_](http://www.etonline.com/news/173985%5Ftom%5Fbrady%5Freflects%5Fon%5Ftough%5Fyear%5Fand%5Fleaning%5Fon%5Fben%5Faffleck%5Fmatt%5Fdamon%5Fand%5Fmark%5Fwahlberg%5Ffor%5Fsupport/ "undefined"). “That’s where my kids were born, and that’s where I’ll live, so it’s a great place to live … There’s a lot of roots in Boston, so \[those\] guys in particular, I’ve gotten to know over the years and they’re all friends. They believe in what we’re doing, and it’s great to have such great support from all those guys.” “That is the Boston crew, man,” he adds. The quarterback was accused of deflating footballs in last year’s AFC championship, but a judge [threw out his four-game suspension](http://www.people.com/article/tom-brady-deflategate-suspension-nullified "undefined") in September. Amid the Deflategate drama, reports surfaced that Brady’s marriage to supermodel Bündchen was in trouble. He denied the rumors during an interview with Boston’s WEEI 93.7 FM in September, saying, “We’re in a great place, I’ll just say that. I’m a lucky man. I’ve been very blessed with support from my family and certainly her, and there’s no bigger supporter that I have than her and vice versa. I’ve been very blessed to have an incredible relationship with my life partner, and I don’t think anything will ever get in the way of that.” During these difficult times, Brady tells _Entertainment Tonight_, he also finds strength in his unwavering desire to support his team and be the best athlete he can be. “Well, I’ve had a lot of events in my life that have motivated me,” Brady says. “Starting with high school – the love of the game, the love of my sport, it started in high school. There’s challenges in college. There’s challenges when I started professionally. There’s been challenges when I injure myself. There’s challenges this off season, but, I think all of those things reinforce what your belief systems are.” “You know, my motivation is to be the best that I can be,” he continues. “To be the best I can for my teammates, and never let my teammates down. I take my job very seriously. I put a lot into it.” [_This article originally appeared on People.com_](http://www.people.com/article/tom-brady-ben-affleck-matt-damon-mark-wahlberg-deflategate-divorce-rumors "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4074348/tom-brady-ben-affleck-matt-damon-deflategate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4074348/tom-brady-ben-affleck-matt-damon-deflategate/"},"headline":"Why Tom Brady Turned to Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg Amid Deflategate and Divorce Rumors","datePublished":"2015-10-15T02:39:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:48:27.838Z","description":"Tom Brady has had a tough year","url":"https://time.com/4074348/tom-brady-ben-affleck-matt-damon-deflategate/","keywords":["celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt218d60033775940e/698868623c163917bc45a3b9/gettyimages-462643696.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tierney McAfee / People"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt218d60033775940e/698868623c163917bc45a3b9/gettyimages-462643696.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-462643696","caption":"during Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium on February 1, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona.","creditText":"Tom Pennington—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4074348/tom-brady-ben-affleck-matt-damon-deflategate/","name":"Why Tom Brady Turned to Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg Amid Deflategate and Divorce Rumors"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Tom Brady Avoids NFL Suspension","description":"A judge ruled that Tom Brady would not be suspended from four games following the Deflategate scandal","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/miZs5BCm/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-03T16:34:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/miZs5BCm.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4074348/tom-brady-ben-affleck-matt-damon-deflategate/","duration":"PT1M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4074348/tom-brady-ben-affleck-matt-damon-deflategate/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```