Tom Brady recently landed what might be the biggest contract of his professional career, and it didn't come from an NFL team.
FOX Sports reportedly signed Brady to a 10-year, $375 million deal to serve as the lead NFL analyst and a brand ambassador for the network. Time will tell when Brady puts on a headset in the broadcast booth, as he won't start his new gig until his playing days are over.
During a recent question-and-answer session with Variety, Brady explained how his partnership with FOX Sports came together.
"They approached me after the season. And there's a lot of history that I have with Fox," Brady told Ramin Setoodeh. "I spoke with their executives, and I really had to evaluate if that's what I wanted to commit to. I have a very unique perspective on football and how it should be played, and what good plays look like and what bad plays look like. I feel like I can still have a great impact on the game. I could stay in the game, doing what I love to do, talking about this incredible sport."
Brady added: "Initially, I told them I didn't want to do it. There was a lot of different emotions. I couldn't make the decision from the place where I needed to be. For the first time, I was a free agent in life. It's different than being a free agent in football when one of 31 teams can come after you. I had lots of different people say, 'You’re free now; we'd love to have you involved in' -- different parts of football, broadcasting, business and finance."
One of the outlets that came after Brady was ESPN. The seven-time Super Bowl champion revealed The Worldwide Leader in Sports approached him "at different times" about potential employment.
Brady's deal with FOX unsurprisingly didn't draw universal rave reviews across the sports media landscape. A few prominent people in the industry vocalized criticisms about FOX investing so much in TB12.
