Tom Brady on The Herd with Colin Cowherd

Amid massive speculation over when Tom Brady will begin his Fox broadcasting career, the former NFL quarterback says it’s not happening until 2024.

Brady, who signed a $375 million 10-year contract with Fox last May, joined his future colleague Colin Cowherd Monday afternoon on Cowherd’s FS1 show The Herd. There, he revealed that he plans on taking a year off before making the transition to the broadcast booth.


“I want to be great at what I do. And talking last week with the people at Fox Sports and the leadership there, allowing me to start my Fox opportunity in the fall of 2024, something that’s great for me,” Brady told Cowherd. “Take some time to really learn, become great at what I want to do. Become great at – you know – thinking about the opportunity and making sure I don’t rush into anything.”

With Brady announcing his retirement from the NFL for a second time last week, it ramped up speculation that he might join Fox for their coverage of this year’s Super Bowl. Bob Costas recently went so far as to say Fox would be “foolish” not to feature Brady as part of their pre- and post-game coverage for Super Bowl LVII, considering they’re set to pay him $37.5 million per year. But the retired quarterback won’t be joining Fox for their Super Bowl coverage this year, and he won’t be joining them next season either.

While Brady is delaying his broadcasting career for one year, he’s heightening expectations by claiming he’ll take the time to learn and “become great” at his craft. Currently, Fox boasts Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen as their lead NFL booth, with Brady slated to bump Olsen from the chair when he joins the network despite the duo already receiving great reviews of their own. Burkhardt and Olsen have been forced to answer endless questions about Brady’s looming presence, but the 2024 announcement should at least brings some sense of decisiveness to his future.

Waiting until 2024 also creates the opportunity for Brady to change his mind about a broadcasting career altogether, as he inevitably gets pulled into a multitude of directions while spending the year focusing on his various business ventures. Brady, however, maintains that the year off is an opportunity to prepare for the booth. But it’s still very hard to imagine he’ll spend next season practicing and studying to be a broadcaster.

“When people really bet on me, one thing about my career, whether it’s when I was drafted by the Patriots or signing in free agency with the Bucs, I wanted to be fully committed and I never wanted to let people down,” Brady explained. “I think my biggest motivator was that. Even in the future, I want to be great at what I do and that always takes some time and strategizing and learning and growing and evolving.”

Next year’s Super Bowl will be broadcast by CBS, but Fox has rights to the game again in 2025. Meaning if Brady does in fact join Fox in the fall of 2024, he’ll get the opportunity to call Super Bowl LIX to conclude his first season in the booth.

[The Herd]

About Brandon Contes

Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com