After initially saying he was unsure about returning to Fox Sports, New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter will be back with the television network this upcoming MLB season alongside David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez and Kevin Burkhardt.
“I’m sitting next to David [Ortiz], so you don’t have much of a choice but to have fun,” Jeter said on this week’s “Calm Down with Erin and Charissa” podcast hosted by Erin Andrews and Charissa Thompson. “I’m happy, I had a great time doing it. I’m looking forward to this upcoming season.”
“Ok good you’re coming back, thank god,” responded Andrews, who has been an NFL sideline reporter for Fox Sports since 2012.
Jeter was previously noncommittal on his return to Fox after he finished his first MLB season as an on-air analyst. On November 1 after the Texas Rangers won the World Series, Rodriguez asked Jeter on live TV if he was coming back to the network next season. “I don’t know yet, we’ll see,” Jeter responded at the time. The New York Post reported on November 2 that Jeter’s contract with Fox Sports is for six years.
“I was way too selfish. It was all about my career” – @derekjeter on parenting and why he had to wait to start a family
Part 1 with The Captain is here! t.co/v1vRc8sSVP
Jeter, who won five World Series titles with the New York Yankees, was famously coy and guarded with the media during his playing days. Much has been made about “The Yankee Way” and the team’s strict public persona (such as its longtime facial hair policy), but the Captain opened up about the side he avoided letting the media see in the Bronx.
“Our old teams used to get this label as we were so corporate and professional and we don’t have fun, we go through the motions,” Jeter said on the “Calm Down” podcast. “But when the media was not in there, we used to have a great time. And that’s nothing against the media, we just wanted to limit those distractions.”
Andrews and Thompson also asked Jeter about the difference today’s athletes face in navigating their personal lives with social media. Jeter played 20 years for the Yankees from 1995 to 2014 before being a part owner of the Miami Marlins from 2017 to 2022.
“I survived I think in my career, especially the early years of my career, because there were no camera phones. We would go out in New York, I can say it now because I’m not playing, we would go out in New York on Friday and Saturday nights at 2, 3 o’clock in the morning, you’d leave and there’s a line to get in,” Jeter said. “But you never had to worry about someone taking a picture unless you had one of those real cameras. It’s just a different time. I feel somewhat sorry for some of the younger players coming up now, but that’s all they know.”
Brewing Bromance Between Derek Jeter, David Ortiz
Jeter and Ortiz competed against each other at the height of Yankees-Red Sox rivalry during the early 2000s, but now the former Yankee captain gushes over Big Papi as his broadcast partner.
“Just getting to know David, he’s what you think,” Jeter said on “Calm Down.”
“He’s like a cartoon character, he’s one of the nicest people you will meet. He really is. I enjoyed spending time with him, not only on-set but after games, before games, talking to him about family. My girls love him, they’re like ‘where’s Big Papi’? because he’s a character,” added the father of four.
Jeter also said he “didn’t really know David [Ortiz] when I played against him. I didn’t try to be best friends with players I competed against. Because we were trying to beat them and they were trying to beat us.”
Tom Brady Set to Join Derek Jeter at Fox
Fox plans to add another legendary athlete to its broadcast talent, with seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady expected to join the network NFL broadcast team in the fall of 2024. Fox announced Brady’s broadcast booth job in February 2023.
The New York Post reported in May 2022 that Fox had agreed to pay Brady $375 million over 10 years. His arrival at Fox next NFL season will make him the latest retired star quarterback to transition to the broadcast booth, as Eli and Peyton Manning call Monday Night Football games for ESPN while Tony Romo broadcasts games for CBS.
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Derek Jeter Confirms His Return to Fox Sports for MLB Coverage