Tom Brady still pays attention to national sports media amid his retirement from a 23-year career in the NFL with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brady reacted to comments by New York Post writer Andrew Marchand about doubts over Brady’s plan to broadcast for FOX in 2024. The seven-time Super Bowl champion agreed to a 10-year, $375 million deal with FOX in 2022 as the main NFL broadcaster for after his NFL career. Doubts persisted about Brady’s plans amid his decision to wait until 2024 to begin, which Marchand claimed to have more intel on after a few conversations.
Brady called Marchand’s comments “fake news” on Instagram.
Marchand said he “talked to a couple of people, recently, close to Brady” about the doubts. Brady notably said he will wait until 2024 to broadcast for FOX after his February 1 retirement from the Bucs.
“It fluctuates. It was at 51% he’s going to do it to 49%, with the reasoning, it’s so much money, he’ll try it for a year,” Marchand said about Brady’s FOX future during “The Marchand & Ourand Sports Media Podcast” on Wednesday, May 3.
“However, I talked to a couple people, recently, close to Brady. And I kind of feel like I’m going more 49% chance he does it, 51% chance he doesn’t. I don’t think he wants to travel that much. Obviously, he’s going to go private,” Marchand added.
“And Brady’s a guy if he’s in, he’s all in, so he’s not going to be showing up day of games like Joe Buck and [Troy] Aikman do sometimes. He’s going to be there early if he’s going to do it. So it’s going to be a four-day event. Again, cry me a river, for that type of money for five and a half months. But he shares kids with Gisele Bündchen. I think that’s very important to him, and he can make money elsewhere,” Marchand continued.
Tom Brady Offers Condolences for Former Teammate After Daughter’s Death
Brady offered condolences this week to former Bucs teammate Shaquil Barrett after the death Barrett’s two-year-old daughter, Arrayah, who drowned in the family’s pool on Sunday, April 30.
“The Brady’s love you,” Brady wrote on Instagram with a picture of the Barrett family.
The Patriots, as other NFL teams did, also offered condolences to the Barrett family via social media. The Barrett family had a private ceremony for Arrayah on Friday, May 5, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
Drowning is the most common cause of death in the U.S. for children ages 1-4 according to the CDC.
Tom Brady Didn’t Turn New Hall of Famer Into Pass Catcher
Before Brady threw touchdown passes to Rob Gronkowski with the Patriots and Bucs in Super Bowls, two of Brady’s most memorable Super Bowl touchdown strikes went to Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel.
Super Bowl XXXIX
For the second consecutive year in the #SuperBowl, the #Patriots‘ starting outside linebacker Mike Vrabel catches a short second-half touchdown pass from Tom Brady.
New England wins back-to-back Super Bowls — the most recent team to do so
18 years ago tonight
The newest member of the Patriots Hall of Fame, Vrabel shared that he picked up his pass-catching skills with the Patriots before Brady. Vrabel worked on passing plays with previous Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe before Brady’s time.
“I think probably [former offensive coordinator] Charlie Weis and Drew. I used to warm up with Drew, just go out before the game, a couple hours before, goof around, run routes,” Vrabel said in a press conference on Thursday, May 4. “I didn’t want to sit at my locker if I got there early, so I wanted to do something. And I said, well, you know, let’s go out and catch balls for the quarterback. So I would mess around with Drew and then I think he might’ve said, ‘Hey,’ to Charlie, ‘This guy could probably actually do something.’ And it never materialized. Then I think maybe the next year, they might’ve said, ‘Hey, give this a try. Learn the plays.'”
“My first touchdown was in San Diego, and we lost. So nobody really talked about it, and then it kind of just materialized from there,” he added. “But probably Charlie Weis and Drew probably came up with the idea.”
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Tom Brady Breaks Silence on FOX Broadcasting Rumor