Tom Brady famously went back on a major career decision in February 2022, choosing to end his short-lived NFL retirement after 40 days and play another season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Is there a chance the seven-time Super Bowl champion pulls a similar stunt in his post-playing career?
Brady lined up a non-quarterback NFL job well before hanging up his pads, as he joined FOX on a reported 10-year deal last year. And less than a week after announcing his retirement for the second time, the future Hall of Famer revealed he’ll start working with the network as a television analyst in the fall of 2024.
Albert Breer will believe that when he sees it. During an appearance Tuesday on “The Dan Patrick Show,” the Sports Illustrated scribe explained why he’s not sold on Brady making good on his broadcast plans.
“I’m not convinced,” Breer told Patrick, as transcribed by Audacy. “I will say that I think if he does do TV, he’ll go all in and try to be really good at it. I’m not convinced that he does it. Just because I think that … I hate to say it’s beneath him, but doesn’t it sort of feel like … can you guys see him like standing in the buffet line with the rest of us at halftime?”
Breer added: “I also sort of look at him, and how many different ways is he compromised? You know what I mean? Because he’s been so image conscious for his entire NFL career. And part of it is, I think he looks at like, ‘OK, I’m invested with this person … and he’s incredibly loyal.’ Is he compromised? You know what I mean? Where it’s like, he can criticize this person, but then he can’t criticize that person. And that can be really, really tricky.”
Brady might have taken a very calculated approach to setting his FOX start date. The year-long gap between quarterbacking and broadcasting might be painted as Brady’s time to prepare for his next gig, but maybe he wanted to give himself a cushion in case a more appealing opportunity comes along. It’s tough to see a potential suitor paying Brady $375 million like FOX reportedly plans to, but no one really knows what will strike TB12’s fancy in this new chapter of his life.
As such, it’s tough to blame Breer for leaving the door open for another Brady flip-flop.
