Topline
Tom Brady won’t commentate on NFL games for Fox until the fall of 2024, the 45-year-old former quarterback said Monday, backtracking on a promise to join the broadcast booth after his retirement in a deal worth a reported nine figures.
Tom Brady at the premiere of the film “80 For Brady” last week.
Key Facts
Brady said on The Herd With Colin Cowherd he spoke with Fox Sports leadership and the parties agreed he won’t start at Fox this season, explaining “decompression [is] important” after his retirement from football and he wants to be “great at what I do.”
The delay comes as a surprise, given the network said Brady would become Fox Sports’ lead NFL analyst “immediately following his playing career” in its May 2022 announcement of the deal.
Brady, who retired “for good” last Wednesday, has a 10-year, $375 contract with Fox, according to the New York Post.
Fox Sports did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment.
Big Number
About $525 million. That’s how much Brady earned on and off the field during his 23-year career, according to Forbes’ estimates. His reported Fox payday would put his career earnings at a cool $900 million.
Key Background
A seven-time Super Bowl champion, Brady is widely regarded as one of the best quarterbacks of all time. Brady retired last February before announcing six weeks later he’d suit up again for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His $37.5 million salary would by far be the most for any NFL color commentator, roughly doubling the $18 million salaries for ESPN’s Troy Aikman and CBS’ Tony Romo, according to the New York Post. Fox’s Brady announcement – a surprise considering he was an active player with no announcing experience – came shortly after ESPN poached Aikman and long-time broadcast partner Joe Buck from the network. Brady is slated to replace Greg Olsen, who will call this week’s Super Bowl alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt, as Fox’s top NFL analyst.
Crucial Quote
“I have not thought about Tom Brady as a broadcaster for 10 fucking seconds,” Burkhardt, Brady’s future partner in the booth, told the Sports Business Journal in an article published Monday.
Further Reading
Tom Brady Retires—This Time ‘For Good’ (Forbes)
Tom Brady Has Retired, Again. Here’s How Much He Earned In His 23-Year NFL Career. (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/02/06/brady-says-he-wont-join-foxs-nfl-broadcasts-until-2024-despite-reported-375-million-deal/