There have been so many conflicting reports about what the future holds for former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback-turned-NFL broadcaster Tom Brady, that the truth has become hard to discern.
Many fans have been unhappy with Brady’s performance in his first as a television analyst for Fox this season with some claiming he adds little value to the broadcast due to his refusal to expound on plays and situations like former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo does, and there were even some fans calling for Fox to fire Brady after the season ends.
It also didn’t help Brady that as minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, he had a clear conflict of interest while broadcasting the NFL divisional-round game between the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders over the weekend because the Raiders were reportedly pushing hard to hire Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as head coach.
Most agreed that it was bad optics for the league having Brady analyze a game in which Johnson was calling plays.
Tom Brady acknowledges fans as he walks into the tunnel before the NFC divisional round between Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders at Ford Field.
Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
But despite all of the conjecture about Brady wanting out of broadcasting after just one year, he officially set the record straight during an appearance on FS1’s “The Herd” about all of the rumors pointing to his potential departure from the network.
“I don't know where [the rumors] come from,” Brady said. “I know it always says ‘sources close to Brady’ or whatever, but I've had the best time at Fox and I've loved every time going into the booth and working with such great people.
“To see how it is from a different perspective, I've had so many years playing on the field, I've watched so many games from the sidelines, now I'm up there in the booth and seeing it from a different perspective, and I've loved the whole process in diving into all these different teams. It's been a lot of growth for me in one year. "
Brady also shot down any speculation that he was unhappy in his role as a broadcaster, seemingly debunking the belief that he was going to ask out of his contract after the Super Bowl.
“I really can't wait to see what it looks like in Year 2 and way beyond that too,” Brady added. “I've got nine years left on my deal and maybe longer, you never know... if Fox wants me and I want to go [on], we'll just keep going, cause it's been really fun thus far.”
Brady signed a 10-year, $375 million contract with Fox last year.
Though his broadcasting career got off to a rocky start during his first few games, many of his NFL colleagues praised Brady for improving on his skills as an analyst throughout the NFL season.
