Tom Brady is already counting down to next season, when the seven-time Super Bowl champion will begin his rookie season as a Fox Sports in-game analyst.
The retired quarterback spoke to ESPN’s Pat McAfee on Tuesday to promote the confirm the move, which had been widely reported about over the last year.
‘I’ve been out to the Fox studios a few times and I’m really excited to join an amazing team,’ Brady told McAfee.
‘Next year I’m gonna be calling a Super Bowl for Fox, which is going to be incredible,’ Brady continued.
The former New England Patriots star signed a reported 10-year, $375 million deal with Fox Sports in 2023 to take over as Fox Sports’ top analyst in 2024.
Tom Brady is already counting down to next season, when the seven-time Super Bowl champion will begin his rookie season as a Fox Sports in-game analyst
The former University of Michigan star said he spent the 2023 season speaking with announcers to learn the finer points of the profession.
‘Spoke to a lot of broadcasters from this entire season, just learning from them, current broadcasters, ones that have done play-by-play, analysis. It’s been really fun,’ Brady said.
‘I connected with a lot of fun people, I got great notes. I could probably write a broadcasting playbook at this point. But it’s been something I’ve challenged myself, and I really look forward to get on there and calling games for Fox starting in September.’
Brady is replacing Fox Sports’ Greg Olsen, who will move down to the network’s No. 2 slot on the analyst depth chart.
Olsen currently serves as the network’s top in-game analyst, and the former Carolina Panthers tight end was praised for his work by Brady on Tuesday.
‘Greg Olsen does an incredible job and I have so much respect for him,’ Brady said.
Greg Olsen (left) is seen with Travis Kelce before a game in Kansas City on November 27, 2022
Fox Sports has yet to announce specific assignments for the 2024 season, but Olsen spoke to The Athletic in 2023 as if he expects Brady to supplant him as the network’s lead analyst.
‘I knew very well what I was signing up for,’ Olsen told The Athletic last year. ‘I’ve always said I’m a big boy. I understand the rules of engagement. … All I can do is try to be as good as humanly possible and make it very difficult [for Fox Sports management].
‘I’ve said to [Fox Sports executive producer] Brad Zager and [Fox Sports chairman] Eric Shanks kind of in jest and in humor over a beer — ”I’m going to make it really hard on you guys.”
‘I’d be doing those guys a disservice and I’m doing myself and my team a disservice if I went into it half-assed that I’m just a placeholder until [Tom] Brady comes in and takes my spot. That’s not in anyone’s best interest.’
