Eli Manning Doesn't Think Tom Brady Will Go Into Broadcasting
By Liam McKeone
Tom Brady retired less than a week ago which means conjecture about what's next for the all-time great has begun in earnest. All we the people know for sure is that Brady will continue working on his TB12 brand, which most recently introduced a spin-off clothing line with GAP. Otherwise, it's really anybody's guess.
As the most successful quarterback in NFL history who is also married to one of the most successful supermodels in the world, Brady obviously doesn't have to do anything if he doesn't want to. But as we have seen before, elite athletes are rarely content with sitting on their haunches after retirement. The inner drive that helped lead to Brady's great career does not simply go away when he hangs up the cleats.
A large part of this discussion is wondering if Brady would go into broadcasting. It's the closest he can get to being back on the field without unretiring and pays extremely well. Kurt Warner explained to The Big Lead a few months ago how calling a football game requires a lot of the same skills quarterbacking does. The combination of those two factors is part of the reason why recent retirees like Peyton and Eli Manning and Drew Brees went into sports broadcasting after hanging them up, and Brady would be more coveted than all three by the rightsholder networks due to his star power.
Brady would be welcomed into the industry with open arms. The question is if he wants to do it. TMZ asked Eli Manning if he thought his old rival would end up on-screen:
The New York Giants legend spoke with Adam Glyn out in NYC this week about what's next for Brady following his retirement ... and Eli said straight-up he doesn't believe it'll be talking X's and O's on a network.
"He's not going into broadcasting," Eli said. "He's too good."
It is unclear what Eli means, exactly, by "he's too good." But it does feel likely that Brady won't come back to the game in the form of broadcasting anytime soon. It is a fairly rigorous job, even if he gets an informal gig like the Manning brothers, and Brady cited his desire to spend time with his family throughout his retirement process.
Eventually, maybe Brady ends up on-screen on his own terms like Peyton and Eli. For the time being, though, we've probably seen the last of Brady around the field for a while.