Fox making the bold move to bring in Tom Brady on a 10-year, $375 million contract dominated sports media conversation for quite a while. But with a very competent and highly rated Super Bowl in the books for the network, some of that chatter has tailed off as Brady the broadcaster just becomes another normal thing. But people will not forget the hefty price tag he's commanding—including those who are his colleagues at Fox.
Bradshaw, who has never been one to be shy, was a recent guest on To The Point — Home Services Podcast where he surveyed the economic state of play for his employer.
“You know how much money they made?" Bradshaw said. "God. More money than plumbers, I can assure you that. $28 million. And I guarantee you, if I go in there and ask for a raise, ‘Well, we don’t have any…we’re running a little tight.’ Well, you just paid Tom Brady $37 million a year. I’ll take it. I did some bad deals, that’s what it was.”
He's right. Thirty-seven million per year is more than most plumbers make. Heck, it's more than most people in the world make. That's what all of the hubbub was all about.
At the end of the day, though, there's a real argument to be made that investing all resources into live sports, especially the NFL, is the only prudent play for sports networks. It sounds wild to say but there's a chance a few years down the road this annual fee for Brady's services actually seems like a bargain.
Bradshaw has been with Fox since 1994 and over the course of all those years there's been significant changes. His co-workers are earning more than most athletes to call the games and he's going on home services podcasts. Probably didn't see either of those things happening.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Terry Bradshaw Riffs on Fox Giving Tom Brady $375 Million to Call NFL Games.