Jan 16, 2023; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) takes the field before a wild card game against the Dallas Cowboys at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Fred Gaudelli has seen a lot in his career as a producer, working for ESPN, ABC, NBC, and Prime Video over the years.

Gaudelli, who has produced his last NFL game and is stepping into an executive producer role, is being honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August. He talked to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post about his career, and his words about Tom Brady were probably the most revelatory quotes from the interview.

When asked about Brady, Gaudelli said he was “surprised” about Brady’s eventual move to the broadcast booth, adding that he “never heard him express any interest in being an analyst” during their time in production meetings over the years.

I was really surprised.

Look, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I know Tom, but I’ve been in meetings with Tom for over 20 years. And while he definitely knew our team, I never heard him express any interest in being an analyst. I knew he was beginning to dabble in media. He had the TB Times, where he had these cartoons after games that he’d have his staff put together that were really pretty fun and somewhat innovative.

And then you could see him dipping more into media, but I saw him more like Peyton [Manning], a media mogul and kind of doing it on his terms.

Like I said, I never got the impression once that being in a booth and doing what we were doing was something that appealed to him. It doesn’t mean it didn’t, I just never had that interaction with him where he was curious about what we were doing or how we were doing it and what our lives were like or what the process was like. So I was surprised.

As for whether or not Brady will actually call games, Gaudelli said he would “have to take him for his word.”

In the interview, Gaudelli called Al Michaels the best NFL play-by-play announcer of all-time, John Madden the best analyst, and Cris Collinsworth the best active analyst. He also said that Tony Romo should “keep doing what you’re doing” but “dig a little deeper.”

[New York Post]

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.