Tom Brady, one of the biggest powerhouse names in NFL history, is most famously known for his career winning seven Super Bowl titles. Brady hung up his cleats and retired in 2022. In his retirement, Brady has transitioned into a broadcasting career with FOX where he calls the game, but not how you think.
Brady signed a 10-year, $375 million broadcasting contract with FOX in 2022, shortly after his retirement. This year is Brady’s first season announcing games alongside play-by-play announcer, Kevin Burkhardt. Here’s the catch (literally), Brady is a part-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, as NFL owners voted 32-0 during the week of Oct. 19 to approve his ownership. Brady’s partial ownership poses several restrictions in his broadcasting job.
These restrictions include: not criticizing teams or referees, cannot enter team facilities, cannot attend practices, cannot join pregame production meetings with teams or players whether they are in person or virtual and he cannot subject to the league’s gambling and tampering rules.
Spectators are left wondering… How does Brady perform his job with these restrictions?
To give an example, if Patrick Mahomes were to throw an interception, Brady cannot criticize Mahomes for his play or his contract, as that would violate the first restriction. Another big restriction for Brady is his ineligibility to attend pre-production meetings.
Each week, the broadcasting crew for every major network that carries the NFL, meets with both teams players and coaches to discuss the upcoming match up. Since Brady is not allowed in those meetings, he has no way of receiving intel on injuries, new formations or certain plays to allow him to tell the full story of the game. According to ESPN, the Dallas Cowboys said that they wanted Brady in their production meetings but because of the league rules, the Cowboys were forced to exempt Brady from their meetings.
For Brady, he knew that these rules would be in place and has adjusted his commentating to the rules as the early part of the NFL season is underway. Will the lack of context hurt? Not for the NFL legend, but the story may be different once the playoffs begin, which is the most crucial time to accurately announce a game.