Tom Brady appeared on a college football Saturday for the first time in a very long time. The future Pro Football Hall of Famer is enjoying his retired life, which features a cushy Fox Sports analyst job. Brady appeared on Fox for the first time in a non-football player role on Saturday, emerging during the 2023 season premiere of Big Noon Kickoff.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion offered his thoughts on his Michigan Wolverines. Brady attended the University of Michigan from 1996-1999. Big things are expected out of Michigan this season as they’re nationally ranked, a favorite to win the Big Ten and to appear in their third consecutive College Football Playoff.
Brady turned up the heat on the trash-talk and talked his Wolverines up in a pre-recorded segment.
Hey, I think we've seen this guy before…
Tom Brady appears on Fox Big Noon Kickoff to tout his Michigan Wolverines pic.twitter.com/4hynOrGDwm
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 2, 2023
“Look, guys, I hate to ruin this for everyone else, but this is Michigan’s year,” Brady emphatically said. “We’re coming off two back-to-back Big Ten Titles, two straight Ohio State beatdowns — sorry, Urban.
“Look, Coach Harbaugh’s got all his pieces back. He’s got a blue-chip quarterback in JJ McCarthy. A two-headed monster in the backfield,” Brady said, speaking of star running backs Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards. “And we’ve got a loaded defense,” Brady closed.
“The winningest program in college football history is ready to go and make another National Championship run. We got this, let’s go. Go Blue!” Brady shouted to close the segment.
It’s noteworthy, even if it’s bite-sized, as this is Tom Brady’s first appearance on Fox Sports while he hasn’t been an active player. He signed a mega-deal to join the network eventually as an analyst. While this wasn’t a traditional at-the-desk analyst appearance, it’s an appearance nonetheless.
It is particularly interesting as Brady’s deal has been questioned in the past. That is, whether or not he’ll actually go through with it. He claimed earlier this year that he would officially arrive in 2024. Bob Costas had previously said the network would be “foolish” not to use him during Super Bowl LVII coverage. They did not.
Former Fox play-by-play man Joe Buck had claimed in November 2022 that he knew people at the network who thought Brady wouldn’t ever get into the pool at all.
