Tom Brady retires as the head of a global branding and fashion empire with $475 million in career earnings — a record haul for an active NFL player. With that in mind, it’s unlikely he would ever commit to a full-time announcing schedule, which would put him on the road every NFL weekend, nullifying his pledge to spend more time with family.
But could Brady still make sporadic appearances in the booth? Even the famously media averse Bill Belichick once joined ABC for its Super Bowl coverage. Maybe Brady will feel inclined to do the same.
Boomer Esiason, who’s worked in broadcasting for over two decades, addressed the hypothetical towards the end of his interview Monday with The Greg Hill Show. “I don’t think he wants to do that. Man, if I made as much money as he did, I wouldn’t be doing it, either,” he said.
Fair enough. But that doesn’t mean networks won’t try. ESPN is already thinking of Brady as a pie in the sky option for Monday Night Football, according to the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand.
Brady has expanded his media footprint in recent years, developing his own production company and producing multiple docuseries, including “Man in the Arena,” which is streaming on ESPN+. He also co-produced an upcoming “30 for 30” special about “The Tuck Rule Game.”
If Brady were to get into broadcasting, it’s likely he would follow in Peyton Manning’s footsteps. The all-time great and his brother, Eli, hosted their critically acclaimed ManningCast during select MNF games this season. Brady was a guest in late October, and was excellent. Most notably, Brady flashed a sense of humor, which we haven’t always seen from him. He ribbed the Manning brothers and even took good-natured swipes at Rob Gronkowski for his anathema to film study.
“The thing about Gronk is that he’s such a quick study,” Brady said jokingly. “Sometimes when you give Gronk too much information he processes it so quickly, you can’t give him too much early in the week.”
Brady also took shots at every defensive player in the league, basically ripping the entire concept. “Have you ever been in some of those defensive meeting rooms? You wonder why they play defense, and after about two minutes you go, ‘Yep, they could never be an offensive player,’” he said. “Defense is kind of like a dog chasing a car.”
The historically guarded Brady opened up in his two seasons with Tampa Bay. Last year, he criticized the league’s “pointless” jersey number changes and said the NFL is becoming “softer.”
Oh, and he also ripped an unnamed team for sticking with an unnamed “MFer” at quarterback. It doesn’t seem as if Brady is concerned with offending others around the league anymore. He just omitted the Patriots from his nearly 1,000-word retirement statement, after all.
An unvarnished Brady would be captivating, and it’s apparent he enjoys talking about himself. The man starred in his own 10-part series reliving all of his Super Bowl runs.
Between TB12 and the Brady Brand — and as he’s mentioned ad nauseam, being more present for his wife and children — Brady will have a full post-playing career slate. He told Jim Gray recently he’s finding “a lot of joy” in non-football activities for the first time in his life.
If broadcasting is part of that list, then we’re in for a treat — as long as Tampa Bay Tom shows up.
