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Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady could walk away from his $375 million deal to call NFL games with Fox, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported on the latest episode of the Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast.
Marchand said:
“I’ve talked to a couple of people recently close to Brady and I kind of feel like I’m going more 49 percent chance he does it, 51 percent chance he doesn’t. I don’t think he wants to travel that much. … I think Brady’s a guy who if he’s in, he’s all in. So he’s not going to be showing up day of games like Joe Buck and [Troy] Aikman do sometimes. He’s going to be there early if he’s going to do it, so it’s a four-day event. … He shares his kids with Gisele [Bundchen]. I think that’s very important to him, and he can make money elsewhere.”
The news of Brady potentially walking away from his contract is significant for Fox, which gave him a 10-year, $375 million deal before he retired from the NFL following the 2022 season.
Brady was originally expected to join the Fox broadcast booth in fall 2024 as perhaps the network’s biggest asset. Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen were part of Fox’s top team during the 2022 season.
There was speculation that Brady was going to play a role in Fox’s coverage of Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, but that didn’t happen.
Brady then said during an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd in February that he wants to be “great” in the broadcast booth, which is part of the reason he’s taking all of 2023 off, (h/t Greg Auman of Fox Sports):
“I want to be great at what I do, and talking last week with the people at FOX Sports and the leadership there, allowing me to start this opportunity in the Fall of 2024 is something that’s great for me. Take some time to really learn, become great at what I want to do … thinking about the opportunity and making sure I don’t rush into anything.”
Brady has long been known to give 100 percent, which is partially why he’s arguably the best quarterback in NFL history.
If the 45-year-old feels he won’t be able to give 100 percent in the broadcast booth, then it wouldn’t be surprising to see him walk away from his Fox contract.
For now, though, we’ll just have to wait and see what the former signal-caller’s next career move will be.
