Call it a soft opening for Tom Brady, the broadcaster.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion, who is locked into a massive contract with FOX Sports to be its No. 1 NFL game analyst beginning in 2024, made his debut for the network on Saturday.
But it’s not what you think, with Brady appearing on FOX Sports’ “Big Noon Kickoff” for Week 1 of the 2023 college football season.
Brady was one of the guests used by the network to preview storylines around the conferences, and the former NFL quarterback — who spent his collegiate career with the Wolverines before becoming a sixth-round pick in 2000 and going to be one of the sport’s greatest quarterbacks — had a message for why fans should buy into the Michigan hype.
“Look, guys, I hate to ruin this for everyone else, but this is Michigan’s year. We’re coming off two back-to-back Big Ten titles, two straight Ohio State beatdowns,” Brady said in what appeared to be a pre-recorded video. “Sorry, Urban. Look, Coach Harbaugh’s got all his key pieces back. He’s got a blue-chip quarterback in J.J. McCarthy. A two-headed monster in the backfield. And we got a loaded defense.
“The winningest program in college football history is ready to go and make another national championship run. We got this. Let’s go. Go Blue.”
Brady, who signed a 10-year, $375 million deal with FOX in 2022, revealed following his second retirement from the NFL in February that he’d wait until 2024 to make the transition from football to broadcasting, where he’ll likely work alongside — and compete with — Greg Olsen as the top NFL analysts.
And while Brady waits to start at FOX, he has also invested in the Las Vegas Raiders and the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces as a minority owner, and he has also been involved in a budding romance with Russian model Irina Shayk following his divorce from Gisele Bundchen.
After Brady’s message on the pregame show, the Wolverines defeated East Carolina, 30-3, in their season-opening victory, with McCarthy throwing for 280 yards and three touchdowns and the defense vying for a shutout until the fourth quarter.
Michigan’s win also occurred amid head coach John Harbaugh’s three-game suspension for recruiting violations, with the other missed games scheduled for the next two weeks against UNLV and Bowling Green.
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