With the first Sunday of the 2024 NFL season finally here, Tom Brady’s highly anticipated broadcasting debut for Fox is just hours away.
And while there has already been plenty of speculation regarding Brady’s motivations — and skepticism whether this moment would actually arrive — one prominent NFL personality has floated a new theory about why the seven-time Super Bowl champion is now in the broadcast booth.
During Friday’s episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, the show’s namesake said that he wouldn’t rule out the 47-year-old Brady ultimately making a return to the playing field. Simmons added that the 48-year-old Peyton Manning “would play again if his f***ing neck worked.” That led guest Peter Schrager to give a take of his own, drawing a connection between Manning’s broadcasting success and Brady’s ambitions.
“I think Peyton actually plays a role in this,” the Good Morning Football co-host said. “I think Brady’s the most competitive motherf***er there is. And the fact that Peyton for the last three years is winning Emmys and is heralded as the greatest thing to happen to sports media, I think Brady wants to be the best at that too. I think there’s still a fire there also.
“Like, ‘Alright, I got the No. 1 job at Fox, I’m calling the Super Bowl. Lemme show you what I can do now.’ I kind of like that storyline of like, ‘Alright, here’s a 10-minute clip of the Omaha musical. OK, that’s Peyton. I’m calling the Super Bowl, dude.’ And I wonder if there’s a competitive fire between the two of them there.”
Despite being colleagues with Brady at Fox, Schrager (who works on the Fox NFL Kickoff 11 a.m. pregame show Sundays) later made it clear that he was merely speculating, not reporting. Simmons, however, wasn’t buying it — although, there was seemingly some Boston bias in his rejection of the theory.
“I think 10 years ago, I would’ve been more into it,” The Ringer founder said. “I just feel like Brady won. Manning’s been awesome with the media side. I’m just saying like the Brady versus Manning thing kind of is done now… I think Fox offered him a lot of money and really went after him and wanted him to do it. He’ll do it for a couple years and then he’ll own the Raiders, or be part owner, right?”
Simmons is likely right that Brady’s decision to join Fox was a matter of dollars and cents — $375 million over 10 years, to be exact. But Schrager connecting the dots between Manning’s own accomplishments in the media field and Brady’s motivations is hardly outlandish.
With his broadcasting debut now just hours away, all indications are that the three-time NFL MVP is preparing for his new gig with the same intensity that he did his old job. And it assuredly doesn’t hurt that he’ll inevitably be compared to his chief rival on the playing field while in the broadcast booth.
How will Brady ultimately compare? We’ll find out in not only the hours, but weeks and months ahead. But considering his legendary competitiveness, it would be somewhat odd if Manning’s success with Omaha Productions didn’t play a role in any of this.
