Long-time NFL producer reveals why Tom Brady's broadcasting job surprised him

• Sports

Long-time NFL producer Fred Gaudelli claims he never heard Tom Brady expressing an interest in being in broadcasting. Brady, a former seven-time Super Bowl champion, signed a 10-year deal with Fox Sports in 2022 May. It was initially reported that Brady would join Fox Sports after retiring - but shortly after Brady's retirement from football on February 1st - it was revealed that the legendary quarterback would not join Fox until the fall of 2024.

Gaudelli, who produced primetime NFL games for 33 years, had a chance to be in meetings with Brady. But Gaudelli never got the impression that Brady could one day be in a broadcasting booth.

Gaudelli on Brady's Fox Sports deal

"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. 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 told The New York Post. Although Brady is under contract with Fox Sports, there are still those who don't believe that the legendary quarterback will actually call games.