Tom Brady says he’s like National Lampoon’s Clark Griswold with Christmas decorations

The NFL star will be spending Christmas on the football field following his divorce from Gisele Bündchen

Tom Brady has revealed his favourite part about the holiday season.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback shared how decorating helps him get into the Christmas spirit, but not without taking some inspiration from an iconic Christmas movie character.

“I think the best part about decorating for Christmas is you got to get in the Christmas spirit,” he said during Wednesday’s episode of his Armchair QB video series.

“I’m all about the Clark W Griswold Christmas decorations,” he joked, referencing National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’s main character and patriarch, Clark Griswold.

The 1989 film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation follows family man Clark Griswold – played by comedian Chevy Chase – as he disastrously tries to achieve the perfect family Christmas for his wife, Ellen, and their two children, son Rusty and daughter Audrey.

The 45-year-old NFL star explained that he loves “lot of lights” and “ornaments,” adding, “I don’t think you can over decorate at Christmas.”

While Brady said that decorating is a great way to “get your family involved” in the annual tradition, he joked that the activity can be even more enjoyable by drinking “some eggnog with some of grandpa’s cough medicine in there.”

This year, Tom Brady’s holiday season will be different from years past, as he is set to play a football game on Christmas Day for the first time in his career. On Sunday, 25 December, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the Arizona Cardinals at their State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

This will also mark Brady’s first Christmas without his three children following his divorce from ex-wife Gisele Bündchen after 13 years of marriage.

When asked how he will be celebrating the annual holiday on his SiriusXM podcast, Let’s Go! with Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray, the NFL star admitted that spending Christmas on the football field will be a “new experience” that he will “learn how to deal with”.

“It’ll be a new experience that I’ve never had before that I’m gonna learn how to deal with,” he said. “And I think that’s what life’s about. So, you just asked a question about what have you learned from this football season? I’m going to learn how to deal with Christmas Eve in a hotel, and I’m gonna have to learn how to deal with Christmas and Christmas night and still go out there and be a professional.”

Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) (Warner Bros Pictures)

The father of three said he “looks forward to celebrating Christmas with my kids” the Monday after the holiday.

“Which is, you know, just part of what football season has been for a long time,” he added. “So it’s just, again, emotional aspects that allow us to thrive.”

Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bündchen announced in October that they finalised their divorce after 13 years of marriage. The former couple share two children, Benjamin, 12, and Vivian, nine, while Brady also shares son John, 15, with ex Bridget Moynahan.

In a statement shared to his Instagram, Brady said he and Bündchen arrived at the decision “amicably” and will continue to focus on co-parenting their children.

“In recent days, my wife and I finalised our divorce from one another after 13 years of marriage. We arrived at this decision amicably and with gratitude for the time we spent together,” he wrote. “We are blessed with beautiful and wonderful children who will continue to be the centre of our world in every day. We will continue to work together as parents to always ensure they receive the love and attention they deserve.”