Tom Brady Defends His Role on Fox Sports, Dismisses Criticism as 'Clickbait' While Pledging Long-Term Stay

Tom Brady hit back at critics ahead of his third season with Fox Sports.

The 49-year-old condemned criticism of his sports analyst role in a Monday, September 7, interview with Sports Business Journal.

"It’s clickbait for people, and it’s something that people have no idea what they’re really glomming onto," he said, brushing off those who have alleged he is ill-equipped for the role.

Brady was announced as a mainstay on Fox's NFL broadcast in 2022, signing a 10-year, $375 million contract to begin anchoring after he retired from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in February 2023.

Since then, Brady claims his critics have been throwing out disapproval in hopes that fans will latch on to it.

"They just put it out there in the world and see what sticks," he explained. "So to me, I just focus on what I need to do to be prepared. That’s what I did as a player, and I go out there every week as a broadcaster and try to do the same thing."

The ex-football star did acknowledge that he still has things to work on when it comes to keeping up with his co-anchors.

"I have a lot to prove to myself, to my teammates. I have a lot to prove to the executives," he admitted. "I want to go earn it, and I don’t want anything given to me. I hope they’ll have me through the end of this contract. I love getting to enjoy the game. I love watching good football.”

Brady is joined on the channel by play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt and sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi.

"There’s such great camaraderie and chemistry we all have together," he gushed about his co-workers. "We have seminars. We have off-site retreats. We have text threads with all of us."

He referred to the team of reporters as "a big family."

"I was not really expecting that when I decided to take the job," he quipped.

In 2024, Brady gained a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, which some claimed compromised his role as an unbiased analyst on the sports desk.

However, Fox Sports' president, Brad Zager, declared that Brady's commitment to his job has been unwavering.

"From the moment we signed Tom, no matter what was written or said, I have never gotten an indication from Tom that he is not into this for the long haul,” Zager said. "...Rumors like that were always out there. You don’t know what the future holds, but I can tell you right now that we have had no discussions with Tom that didn’t involve him being here for a long time."