Super model Gisele Bundchen landed the one cover she probably wasn't after, gracing the tabloid with her "Tommy" after the paper got hold of an email she reportedly sent to friends and family, asking them to channel their "positive energy" to quarterback husband Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the NFL title game against the New York Giants.
"This sunday will be a really important day in my husband's life. He and his team worked so hard to get to this point and now they need us more than ever to send them positive energy so they can fulfill their dream of winning this super bowl. ..." she wrote, according to the Post, which didn't say how it obtained the message. "I kindly ask all of you to join me on this positive chain and pray for him, so he can feel confident, healthy and strong. Envision him happy and fulfilled experiencing with his team a victory this sunday."
Bundchen was said to have confirmed it all with an email to the paper saying: "I am surprised that you received this email; it was a private note only sent to close friends and family."
Not exactly bulletin-board material, but darned close for a week that has been exceedingly dull by Super Bowl standards: no name-calling, fights or even a whiff of controversy..
A copy of the Post made the rounds at the Giants' media availability Thursday morning. Brady was asked about it, too, but no fireworks there:
"I don't know anything about that, so I don't know what it is."
Brady and Bundchen have taken great pains to try to be a normal couple -- well, as normal as one of America's most watched twosomes can be.
He's a three-time Super Bowl champ with two MVP awards and a $72 million contract. He's GQ worthy with rugged good looks and a flair for fashion, and his hair is a source of endless fascination. She's a long-locked Brazilian beauty who made her name with Victoria's Secret lingerie and now moves everything from shampoo to couture. She's the biggest name in modeling, racking up $45 million in 2011, according to the latest annual list by Forbes.com.
Brady was discovered in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft, Bundchen at age 14 in a Brazilian fashion mall.
They're the kind of high-wattage stars who keep the paparazzi in business. Yet they don't have a reality TV show and they don't do the party circuit, and she isn't likely to show up at Patriots games in a form-fitting pink Brady jersey.
They're almost -- dare we say it? -- boring.
He gave tiny glimpses of his family life in response to questions during Super Bowl week interviews.
He'll talk about his parents, three older sisters, and his two boys, one with an ex-girlfriend, one with Bundchen. He'll mention a child's chair with his youngest son's name on it on the floor of his locker in Foxborough, Mass., and remarked about his boys' favorite TV shows and athletic abilities.
But his wife? He seldom, if ever, mentioned her.
And never by name.
Asked at Tuesday's media day if his wife had given him any advice, he said: "Throw the ball quickly. She doesn't like it when I get hit very often. My guys up front do a great job of protecting me."
His wife, too.
"I feel Tommy really needs our prayer, our support and love at this time," her email said, according to the Post.
Stay tuned.
