Fox Exec Calls Brady Rumors A Never-ending, Merry-go-round Of Narratives

Even as Tom Brady goes through his first postseason and prepares to call his first Super Bowl as a television analyst in three weeks, rumors about his future continue to be rampant, much to the dismay of Fox Sports.

Fox Sports president of production and operations/executive producer Brad Zager understands the spotlight Brady and the network are under. Still, Zager said Brady is in it for the long haul.

"The whole group that said he would never be there then turned into, he's not going to stay there. It's just a never-ending, merry-go-round of people trying to come up with the next narrative," Zager said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Friday. "Tom has done nothing but be engaged with us every time he's asked about broadcasting. When he was retired and getting in, getting ready, he talked about how excited he was for it, that he was 100 and has never wavered on that. So the fact that there are people on that crew that have to read articles and narratives and predictions that Tom isn't engaged does wear on you,"

Friday's comments by Zager are the first about Brady by someone from Fox Sports. Brady has not been made available for media interviews this season. He has discussed his first season in the booth during appearances on Colin Cowherd's show on FS1.

On Thursday, Don Yee, Brady's agent, told Sports Business Journal that Brady "has had a tremendous amount of fun working with Fox this year, and he's really excited about the future with Fox." Brady signed a 10-year, 375 million contract with Fox in May 2022 while still playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He retired after that season and decided in February 2023 to take a year off before moving into the booth.