Tom Brady always had high expectations for himself when it came to playing football. Things will be no different for his new gig in the broadcast booth. Brady knows his position with Fox will be very different from playing quarterback and says while this job will be less about competition, he's still setting a very high bar for himself.
"Certainly, as a broadcaster, I don't think for me it's about competition," Brady said on Fox's "The Herd" Monday. "I think it's -- for me, it's about, 'Did I put everything I could into it? Did I give the fans everything that they tuned in for?' That's really how I'll end up gauging myself and I'll have to look at myself at the end of every Sunday night going, 'Did I do a good enough job? Did I live up to the belief that Fox had in me? Did I live up to the expectations of my teammates … and our entire team?'"
Brady said the answer to those questions is "ultimately" how he will judge himself in the new role. He was pretty successful as a player in the NFL, winning seven Super Bowls with two teams over the course of two decades. If he brings close to the level of preparation he brought to playing to the booth, he will see success there as well.
Broadcasting is not his only new venture. The future Hall of Famer is also trying to become a minority owner for the Las Vegas Raiders. If the deal goes through, there is an obvious conflict of interest with Brady broadcasting NFL games. If he is assigned a Raiders game, or even their divisional rivals, a bias could show. Teams also may not give him as much access out of caution of not exposing themselves too much to another owner.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell gave an update on the sale last week, saying he thinks "progress is being made."
"We've had a number of meetings. The finance committee has done their work on this and we have a little more to do," Goodell said.
Goodell addressed the potential issue of being a commentator and also being an owner being one of the major factors. "As a member of the media, what access would he have every week as he prepares for the broadcast of a game, and we've addressed that also. So we're making progress on this."
Exactly how they will handle it is still unknown. But for now, Brady is preparing for the gig the only way he knows how: like a pro.
