The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady told fans in February 2022 that he was retiring from the game of American Football. Then he reversed his decision in March and returned to the 23rd season of the NFL (National Football League) after 40 days. He said his place was still on the field and not on the stand. However, according to reports, he has agreed to a deal with FOX Sports to join them as lead NFL analyst after retirement.
Brady took to social media to express his excitement and assured fans that he still had “unfinished business” on the field.
Lucrative Contract Awaits Tom Brady
FOX Sport has not disclosed the terms of a contract, but reportedly the 7-time Super Bowl champion signed a 10-year contract worth 375 million USD. Only 2 other athletes were known to have a larger contract than Brady in US sports history; Alex Rodriguez (455 million USD) and LeBron James (387 million USD).
The 44-year-old quarterback has only 1 year left on his Tampa Bay contract as a player. After he finally hangs his boots, he will join Kevin Burkhardt at FOX to call the NFL games play-by-play. The sports world is intensively debating the value of this contract which sounded too good to be true. It is worth more than what Brady earned in a 22-year career as a player. After adding this season’s earnings (30 million USD), Tom Brady would have amassed nearly 333 million USD in total career earnings by the end of 2022.
FOX Disputes the Reports
It is appropriate to mention that FOX has disputed the ongoing claims about the detail of Brady’s contract. The media giant confirmed that it was signing Tom Brady but said what was being reported was “not the accurate description of the deal”.
The report was first published by the New York Post on 10th May 2022 that FOX will pay Brady 375 million USD on a 10-year contract. The owner of the New York Post (and several other companies), Rupert Murdoch, fired back at FOX, asking to specify the “inaccuracy”. Rupert-owned companies and FOX do not seem to be on the same page, which makes it unclear what kind of deal Brady will get as a FOX analyst on the NFL.
Not the First NFL Player with Post-Retirement Plan
Tom Brady has won seven Super Bowl titles, the most for any NFL player. He spent his first 20 seasons with New England Patriots from 2001 to 2019, where he won 6 Super Bowl rings. Then he joined Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020 and won another after a commanding victory over Kansas City Chief led by the Patrick Mahomes. American football fans regard him as the greatest quarterback of all time.
Brady is not the only NFL player to plan a post-retirement media career. Before him, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo became the lead NFL analyst at CBS in 2017 after a career of 14 years. Drew Brees, a quarterback for San Diego Chargers (2001 -2005) and New Orleans Saints (2006-2020), successfully transitioned as a football analyst at NBC after 20 seasons in the NFL. Similarly, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning also worked in ESPN’s ManningCast last season for Monday Night Football.
