The next professional stage of Tom Brady’s career is on hold.
On Monday, the recently retired quarterback announced he wouldn’t start his color commentator job with Fox Sports until the 2024 NFL season. Last year, Brady signed a 10-year, $375 million deal to work with Fox as their lead commentator for their NFL broadcasts.
When Brady officially retired last week, many wondered if the former Patriots quarterback would join the Fox booth next fall. However, when speaking on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Brady said he needed time to decompress and get ready for his second career.
“For me, I want to be great at what I do and even talking last week with the people at Fox Sports and the leadership there allowing me to start my Fox opportunity in the fall of 2024 or something. That’s great for me,” Brady said. “So, take some time to really learn, become great at what I want to do. Become great at – you know thinking about the opportunity and making sure I don’t rush into anything. I think when people really bet on me — one thing about my career whether when I was drafted by the Patriots or signing as a free agent with the Bucs, I wanted to be you know fully committed and I never wanted to let people down. I think my biggest motivator was that.
“So even in the future I want to be great at what I do and that always takes some time and strategizing and learning and growing and evolving and I have so many people to rely on that — to support me in that growth too. So, it’s going to be a great opportunity for me to take some time to really certainly become [great] at my Fox broadcasting job, which I’m really looking forward to, but also catching up on other parts of my life that needs some time and energy.”
After 23 years of playing professional football, Brady is about to embark on a new chapter of his life. This will mark the first spring without NFL offseason workouts, OTAs and minicamp. That will lead into a summer without an NFL training camp for the first time since he was in college at Michigan in the late 1990s.
Brady, a father of three children, said he needs a break after decades playing in the NFL. The greatest quarterback of all-time is going to take a breather before he starts his next journey.
“Decompression is important,” Brady said. “You’re on this kind of crazy treadmill slash hamster wheel at the moment and loving the journey. At the same time, it’s a daily fight. I have a daily appreciation for people who are so committed every day to showing up to put in the max effort into their life and into their career.”
Story by Mark Daniels, MassLive.com.
