After a year away from football, former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is ready to step into the broadcast booth as FOX's lead color commentator alongside Kevin Burkhardt in 2024.
Many have been wondering exactly how Brady will sound in this next stage of his career, considering it's completely new to him and the best players aren't always the best in the booth.
Earlier in the offseason, Brady told the NFL Network that he might be a "jerk" when he criticizes players on the field, but now he seems to have softened a bit.
While speaking with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, Brady explained why he's not going to say everything that's coming to his mind during a game.
"The most challenging thing is when I see something and I think 'Oh, that was horrible,' but I just can't say that on TV," Brady said. "Because there are parents and there are family members, and I don't want to always necessarily say it in that way. If I was doing it myself, and let's say a really bad interception, I would walk to the sidelines and I'd say 'You are the worst quarterback in the world. How could you possibly make that throw? That was terrible.'
"But, I just don't want to be so critical because, in some ways, I don't necessarily know exactly what the problem was on that play... I don't think I'm going to dial back to make something that was negative into a neutral or a positive. I think if something's not good, I'm going to point out why it's not good and how it could be better... The criticism of a player is different versus the criticism of a play is very different."
Brady is getting paid handsomely to be himself, and if he's not going to be authentic on the broadcast, it could be worse than if he had just shared his true thoughts, even if they hurt some feelings.
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