Iconic NFL producer admits Tom Brady’s $375 million plan came out of the blue
Tom Brady has retired and is likely to stay that way. He's about to become part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders and is set to join the FOX broadcast booth next season for an astounding $375 million contract.
Brady was always destined to be a big part of the game even after he retired, but joining FOX did come as a bit of a surprise.
Fred Gaudelli, who has produced for ESPN, ABC, NBC, and Prime Video over the years, was even surprised by the move. Gaudelli has moved on to an executive producer role, but he's still involved with that side of the sport.
Gaudelli said (via Awful Announcing):
"I was really surprised. Look, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I know Tom, but I’ve been in meetings with Tom for over 20 years. And while he definitely knew our team, I never heard him express any interest in being an analyst.
"I knew he was beginning to dabble in media. He had the TB Times, where he had these cartoons after games that he’d have his staff put together that were really pretty fun and somewhat innovative."
As long as Brady doesn't walk away from retirement once more, he'll be a full-time broadcaster beginning next season.
NFL producer surprised Tom Brady didn't emulate Peyton Manning
The producer went on to say that he's not surprised that Tom Brady joined the media, but he is surprised he didn't go a different route to get there:
"And then you could see him dipping more into media, but I saw him more like Peyton [Manning], a media mogul and kind of doing it on his terms. Like I said, I never got the impression once that being in a booth and doing what we were doing was something that appealed to him.
"It doesn’t mean it didn’t, I just never had that interaction with him where he was curious about what we were doing or how we were doing it and what our lives were like or what the process was like. So I was surprised."
Gaudelli is surprised that Brady didn't follow Peyton Manning's lead. Manning is one half of the iconic Manningcast duo that has become a fan favorite on Monday Night Football.