Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is in his 23rd NFL season and looking to cap it off with his eight Super Bowl championship.
The former Michigan Wolverines gunslinger is universally recognized as the best to ever play the position. After briefly retiring in January for 44 days, Brady returned, much to the chagrin of his supermodel wife Gisele Bündchen. The belief was Brady would retire to spend time at home with his wife and children. While many expect this to be his last season, as he’s now 45 years old, in May it was reported that Brady will go into the broadcast booth once he’s done on the gridiron.
Fox Sports and Brady reportedly agreed to a 10-year, $375 million contract. While that sounds good, future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees is sending a warning to Brady about the amount of time broadcasting takes.
Tom Brady has agreed to join Fox Sports as the lead NFL analyst after his playing career concludes. @brgridiron
The 🐐 will be calling games. pic.twitter.com/bWVjeEOoka
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 10, 2022
During a recent appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Brees opened up about what it will take for Brady to be successful as a broadcaster.
Brees Says If You Wanna Succeed It’s Also Time-Consuming
Considering Brady is already at odds with his wife over him returning to the field, Brees is saying it will be difficult for Brady to achieve success without putting in the time.
“If you’re gonna do it, you’re gonna spend the same amount of preparation in preparing to broadcast the game, to do a three-hour production, as you would to play the game,” Brees said.
“I’m not sure exactly what Tom is signed up to do. I know what’s been announced. But it is definitely a commitment, and it takes more time than you think. I definitely have a respect for the guys that are in those positions and the guys that really do it the right way. You know the preparation that goes into that.”
This isn’t a job where you just show up on Sunday. There are production meetings, player and coach sit-downs prior to the game you’re calling that week. Meaning you arrive in the city of the game by Wednesday or Thursday in most cases, so it does take away from home life, just like football itself.
Considering what’s played out in the media with Brady’s marriage, that would be a huge ask if he does take the Fox job following his playing career.
Brees Cut His Broadcasting Career Short After One Year
In 2021, Brees went right into the broadcasting world with NBC Sports following his illustrious playing career. He didn’t return this season, as he stated he wanted to spend more time with his family.
“Last year I went the media route. That was really enjoyable. I felt I learned a lot. I felt like I developed a great skill set. It will help me down the road, whether I choose to do that again or something else, so I appreciated the experience.”
“The reason I didn’t do that this year was simply because it was taking away all my weekends, and my kids are at an age where I want to be with them. I want to coach them. I want to see their games. … Look, it’s the same thing for coaches.”
It’s a slippery slope for a retired athlete when you consider how much time they’ve spent away from their families as players. And then to go right into the booth after not being home for a decade or two is tough no matter the type of compensation one might be receiving.
No matter what the gig, maybe it takes time, and that’s something Brees is telling his good friend Brady to recognize.
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