Tom Brady won't be leaping straight from the field to the broadcast booth.
The newly retired quarterback announced Monday on "The Herd With Colin Cowherd" that he won't begin his post-playing career as FOX Sports' lead NFL analyst until the 2024 season.
"I think for me, I want to be great at what I do, and talking even last week with the people at FOX Sports and the leadership there, allowing me to start my FOX opportunity in the fall of 2024 is something that's great for me," said Brady, who signed a reported 10-year, $375 million contract with FOX last year. "(I'm going to) take some time to really learn, become great at what I want to do, become great at thinking about the opportunity and making sure I don't rush into anything."
Brady has participated in several media ventures over the years, including his "Tom Vs. Time" and "Man in the Arena" docuseries, but he's never called an NFL game. The 45-year-old plans to spend the 2023 season learning the broadcasting ropes while also focusing on his life outside of football.
"I think when people really bet on me, I think one thing about my career, whether it was when I was drafted by the Patriots or signed in free agency with the Bucs, I wanted to be fully committed, and I never wanted to let people down," Brady told Cowherd. "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 can support me in that growth, too.
"So it's going to be a great opportunity for me to take some time to 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 need some time and energy."
Brady taking a year off will allow Greg Olsen to continue on as FOX's No. 1 NFL color man in 2023. Olsen, a former tight end for the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers, has impressed alongside play-by-play voice Kevin Burkhardt in their first season replacing FOX's former top team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.
Burkhardt and Olsen will be on the call this Sunday night as the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles square off in Super Bowl LVII.
