Getty Tom Brady might not broadcast with FOX after his NFL career, ESPN broadcaster Joe Buck says.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady appearing in a FOX promotion of the World Cup means nothing about his future with the network.
That’s the way former FOX NFL broadcaster Joe Buck sees it despite Brady’s 10-year $375 million contract waiting for him at FOX after retirement. Buck, who is now with ESPN, expressed skepticism amid Sports Illustrated podcast host Jimmy Traina’s comment about Brady’s appearance in the FOX promo.
“Brady’s at FOX now,” Traina said during the “Sports Illustrated Media Podcast” on November 17.
“Oh he is? Because he did a FIFA promo for the World Cup?,” Buck responded.
Brady, 45, has a brief appearance in the FIFA ad, where it shows him watching Ronaldo in the World Cup. Brady makes a comment, “getting kind of old, isn’t he” about soccer superstar Ronaldo.
While Brady pokes fun about age in the commercial, Buck doesn’t believe Brady has aged out of playing in the NFL yet. Buck noted there’s unknowns for Brady off the field, too.
“Is there a chance? Yeah, I think there’s a chance,” Buck told Traina. “Who knows where his family life takes him, who knows if he plays one more year or he doesn’t. I know there are people at FOX who would say there’s a chance that he doesn’t call a game there.”
That’s also despite the report from Front Office Sports about Brady possibly joining FOX for Super Bowl coverage if the Bucs don’t make it. However, that report came out when the Bucs sat at 3-5, mired in a three-game losing streak.
Things Trending up for Brady
Brady led the Bucs to back-to-back wins since then, and the team looks to keep pushing forward after the bye week. Brady’s quarterback coach, Clyde Christensen, recently said the seven-time Super Bowl champion is throwing as well as ever.
“He’s playing as good as he ever has. I think he’s improving. I think he’s improving,” Christensen told the Buccaneers Radio Network via JoeBucsFan.com. “Not to sound like a coaching cliché here again, but you practice, you work hard at what you do, you tend to improve. I think that goes for 45-year-olds, as well. … He’s throwing the ball at a high, high level.”
Brady is ‘One Year at a Time’
A source with the Bucs also told JoeBucsFan.com that Brady isn’t set on retirement in 2023. Brady also becomes a free agent in 2023, but he could don red and pewter again if he chooses.
“Everybody here knows Brady is one year at a time, but what you see every day is a guy who acts like he wants to keep playing,” the source told JoeBucsFan.com. “This is his team, and the team loves him. He’s heavily invested in many ways. It’s hard to imagine he’d find a better situation with another franchise. And he’s been playing great for three years.”
Rumors aplenty will swirl on where Brady will play in 2023, or if I will broadcast with FOX next year, for now. In the meantime, Brady will look to make the most of the 2022 season with the Bucs.