On Tuesday, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch announced that seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady will officially join Fox Sports as its lead NFL analyst once he retires from playing professional football — whenever that actually happens.
“Over the course of this long-term agreement, Tom will not only call our biggest NFL games with Kevin Burkhardt, but will also serve as an ambassador for us, particularly with respect to the client and promotional initiatives,” Murdoch stated via Fox Sports’ Twitter account.
Murdoch first made the announcement during Fox’s earnings call on Tuesday morning. “We are delighted that Tom has committed to joining the Fox team and wish him all the best during this upcoming season,” the media mogul added on Twitter.
For his part, the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tweeted, “Excited, but a lot of unfinished business on the field with the @Buccaneers.”
Brady, who will turn 45 in August, retired for 40 days this past January, only to make a surprise decision to return to the game that he has dominated for more than two decades. Prior to playing for the Buccaneers, Brady won six Super Bowls over a span of 20 seasons with the New England Patriots.
During his retirement, it looked as if Brady was content to focus on his new clothing line and his TB12 sports program, as well as produce and act in a road trip comedy based on a true story about four lifelong friends who journey to Super Bowl LI to see their idol — Brady — play in the big game.
In February, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field would star in the movie, titled “80 for Brady.”
“Brady (the movie, not the player) will be directed by Kyle Marvin, who also co-wrote the script with Michael Covino,” The Hollywood Reporter added. “Marvin, who appears as an actor in the upcoming Apple limited series WeCrashed and co-wrote and starred in indie movie The Climb, is also executive producing with Covino, under the duo’s Watch This Ready banner, and Jeff Stott.”
In April, The Daily Wire reported that Brady told ESPN that he realized he simply loves the game of football too much to step away from it just yet.
“At the end of the day, I just love the competition on the field,” Brady told ESPN. “And last year was a very bitter ending to a season and we’ve got to make a lot of corrections to try to improve and put ourselves in a better position to succeed moving forward.”
While Brady appears to be set to join Fox Sports after his playing days are over, it is unclear when they day will come. Brady has previously stated that he believes he could play until he is “50 or 55,” but that he isn’t sure he wants to actually do that.