Tom Brady is readying for the next step in his career. This September, the former quarterback will begin his job as lead NFL analyst for Fox. And the guy who was all about winning and competing isn’t viewing his TV gig the same way.
Rather, he’s competing against his own benchmarks.
“Certainly, as a broadcaster, I don’t think for me it’s about competition,” Brady said on Fox’s “The Herd” earlier this week. “I think it’s … for me, it’s about, ‘Did I put everything I could into it? Did I give the fans everything that they tuned in for?’ That’s really how I’ll end up gauging myself and I’ll have to look at myself at the end of every Sunday night going, ‘Did I do a good enough job? Did I live up to the belief that Fox had in me? (And) did I live up to the expectations of my teammates … and our entire team?'”
Fans have been waiting for this new Tom Brady career premiere for more than a year. He retired from the NFL on Feb. 1, 2023. Because it was the second time that he’d retired — he changed his mind about the first one — there were rumors about his NFL comeback throughout the fall.
But he didn’t change his mind about the broadcasting job. Fox paid huge money after Brady retired the first time only to change his mind. The seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback agreed to a 10-year, $375 million deal in spring of 2022. The only thing he changed about the job was to start it this September as opposed to last fall.
Fox paired him with Kevin Burkhardt, the network’s top play-by-play guy. Greg Olsen, the former Carolina Panther tight end, had been doing a stellar job as the top analyst. But superstar quarterback trumps standout tight end every time.
Meanwhile, Tom Brady also is prepping for another branch of his NFL career. He’ll be an investor. He has intentions of joining the Raiders as a minority owner. But the league has yet to approve the move, which has been pending for months.
Commissioner Roger Goodell provided an update last week as the NFL owners meetings. He told reporters that “progress is being made.”
“We’ve had a number of meetings,” Goodell said. “The finance committee has done their work on this and we have a little more to do.”
Goodell said some of the meetings have addressed what to do with Tom Brady now that he is a member of the media. “What access would he have every week as he prepares for the broadcast of a game,” Goodell said. “And we’ve addressed that also. So we’re making progress on this.”
The WNBA already approved Brady’s purchase of part of the Las Vegas Aces.
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