We know Tom Brady won’t be completely letting go of football whenever he retires. His lucrative broadcast deal with Fox assures that Brady will be tied to the game for another decade in a new capacity.

Brady appeared on the Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday, where he was asked about his decision to become a color commentator. Though he might not be lining up under center, he said there’s still the appeal of preparing each week as if he were playing in a game.

“Look, I’ve been in every production meeting for 22 years, since when I started playing in 2001,” Brady said. “I know what those guys are asking, I know what they’re asked to do. I think it feels very much like a team that goes on the road to prepare for a game.

“There’s a lot of learning curve. Obviously, it’ll be a totally new career. It’s a new opportunity for me to try something that I’m gonna work really hard to prepare to be as good as I possibly can be, knowing that the day that I walk on the set for the first time won’t be my finest moment. There’ll be a lot of growing pains and I’ll have to learn to be really good at it.”

Sharing Wisdom

Brady isn’t the first player to make the transition to the booth and he won’t be the last. We saw former Saints quarterback do this a season ago. But Brees was in the studio at NBC, while Brady will be traveling to different games each week. That part is what he’s most looking forward to, along with giving back to the game by sharing his knowledge with others.

“I also think there’s part of it that excites me is, I get to travel and be around football,” Brady said. “I’ve been around great mentors in my football career. Being blessed to get drafted by the Patriots, I was around one of the great owners in the history of the NFL in Mr. [Robert] Kraft. One of the great – the greatest head coach in NFL history in Coach [Bill] Belichick. Josh McDaniels, Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel.

“I mean, the list goes on with the coaches that I’ve been around. General managers, Jason Licht [and] Scott Pioli. I get to be around players – I had the best players. I was around the best defensive players [and] offensive players. I’ve been covered by John Madden. I’ve been at Super Bowl media days, I’ve had so much experience. And if I can help people along the way by my travels and by talking to coaches and talking to players… I love the sport of football. And I get to be in it, so I think that’s what mostly I got excited about.”

You can watch his entire interview on the Dan Patrick Show here: