New England Patriots - NESN.com
Former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is getting the keys to the kingdom.
The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reports Brady will be allowed to attend production meeting with teams ahead of games he is broadcasting for FOX Sports.
Brady, as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, had been banned from the meetings last year, his first in the broadcast booth as part of that 10-year, $375 million contract with FOX Sports.
“Brady’s play-by-play partner, Kevin Burkhardt, and other crew members would inform Brady of what was said in the meetings,” Marchand wrote Wednesday. “The sessions, with coaches and players, can reveal nuggets that can be used during the broadcast. They take place over Zoom and/or in person.
“Brady is still expected to be barred from team practices, as he was last year,” Marchand added. “Fox Sports and the NFL declined to comment.”
The seven-time Super Bowl champion will be back in the broadcast booth to call the Week 1 game between the New York Giants and Washington Commanders.
Brady, 48, visited his former stomping ground earlier this month, returning to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. for the unveiling of his 12-foot statue before the Patriots’ preseason game against the Washington Commanders.
“This is quite overwhelming to me,” Brady said at the unveiling. “I feel extremely honored, deeply grateful and, if I’m being honest, kind of old. I’m also a little surprised because usually they don’t build statues until you’re really old, like [Mike] Vrabel and [Tedy] Bruschi.”
At the time, ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported the Patriots wanted to unveil the statue last season, but FOX Sports never assigned Brady a game in New England.
Already a member of the Patriots Hall of Fame, Brady should be a first-ballot inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he is eligible in 2028.
