While Fox may not be certain Tom Brady will end up calling games on their network, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback sounds confident in his future career as a broadcaster.
On the latest episode of SiriusXM’s Let’s Go! podcast, hosts Tom Brady and Jim Gray welcomed Charles Barkley to the show. During the interview, Brady acknowledged how analysts should aspire to be as open and honest as Barkley is on-air, which prompted the quarterback to think forward about his own career in the booth.
“When I watch football now, the only thing I see — nine out of 10 it’s, ‘Man, that was a really bad play.’ As opposed to the ‘Wow, the spectacular play that [Patrick] Mahomes made or the spectacular play that Josh Allen made.’ Now, it’s like, ‘Man, what a bad defensive play, what a bad play by the quarterback.’”
It sounds like Brady hasn’t watched Tony Romo very much, because the CBS analyst certainly fawns over quarterbacks with immense enthusiasm. And although Brady believes analysts focus on the negative nine out of 10 times, he doesn’t seem inclined to be different.
“Naturally, because I think I have a high level of — when you play with Randy Moss, when you play with Wes Welker, when you play with [Rob] Gronkowski and [Julian] Edelman and Mike Evans, you see greatness,” Brady continued. “And there’s a standard for perfection that I want to see the game played at. Because I value the sport, I value the coordination of this incredible chess match that’s happening, the play within every play.
“And I just feel like there’s probably more Johnny Miller in me, where when I used to watch him on golf telecasts, it was just scathing sometimes. ‘What, that guy choked under pressure?’ or whatever. That’s essentially how I end up seeing the game a lot now. Not that I want to be negative, but I do want to point out — and Belichick taught this to me a lot — it’s hard to win a game in the NFL, there’s more games lost in the NFL than they’re won. If you don’t screw it up, you’ve got a great chance to win. Because most people do just mess it up.”
Brady as a scathing analyst calling players out for not achieving his standard of perfection on the field is tough to imagine considering it’s a stark contrast from the personality he’s portrayed over the last two decades.
Last year, Brady appeared on The Shop and admitted 90 percent of what he says isn’t what he’s actually thinking. Is that a switch Brady will be able to flip if and when he enters the booth for Fox? Brady was never one to call other players out in front of the media, and he certainly tries his best to avoid saying anything explosive, polarizing or even thought-provoking, which is why his $375 million contract with Fox was so curious. But at least in Brady’s mind, he has a lot more to offer as a broadcaster.
