Joe Buck Says There are People at Fox Who Think Tom Brady Will Never Call a Game

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Saying that nobody's life is perfect is stating the painfully obvious. So I won't. Instead I'll just point out that some lives are so close to being perfect that any decline in quality looks like a catastrophe to us normal, ordinary, forgettable slobs. In that way that a guy hitting .400 will see his batting average plummet after just a couple of 0-fers. Whereas it's not hard for the guy who's below the Mendoza Line can turn his respectable with just a multi-hit game or two. 

Which is why Tom Brady's tough 2022 seems so brutal. He so rarely loses on or off the field, that seeing him struggle professionally and personally looks like a cataclysm. Every hit he's taken feels like an extinction-level event. His divorce. Getting exposed for having talks with the Dolphins for an entire season while still under contract to New England. The FTX collapse and subsequent lawsuit which names him and his ex-wife as defendants. Add to that the fact people are questioning the finances of his charitable foundation the way The Boston Globe used to accuse him of stealing from the Special Needs kids he raised millions for.

Then on top of it all, the trailer for his vanity project movie comes out and induces full-body cringes across the continent:

If one didn't know better, you'd think this is all part of some sinister plot to humble and destroy him. Like what the Duke Brothers did to Louis Wainthorpe III:

But if nothing else - nothing else - Brady at the very least has a bright future to look forward to. The sweetest gig in all of sports, if not all of entertainment. All he has to do is announce he's retiring, take the spring and summer of 2023 off, and slide into the Fox broadcast booth in the fall and do what comes naturally. Which for him is to be charming, articulate, telegenic, and blow America's collective mind by sharing tiny portions of his vast treasure trove of football knowledge and wisdom.

For that, he'll collect $37.5 million a year for 10 years. Just for being himself on camera for three hours a week. Easy peasy. 

But not so fast. According to Fox's former top play-by-play guy who has to still have sources inside the network, it might never happen:

Awful Announcing - Joe Buck isn’t sold that the NFL quarterback will ever call a game for the network.

Buck joined Jimmy Traina on the latest episode of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast. …

Buck and Fox are both skeptical about Brady ever calling a game for the network.

“I think there’s so much up in the air in his life right now,” Buck said. “For anybody to go, ‘he’s 100 percent doing X,Y, or Z’ I don’t think that’s possible.”

People at Fox told Buck they were not sure Brady would honor the contract he signed.

“Is there a chance? Yeah, I think there’s a chance,” Buck added. “Who knows where his family life takes him, who knows, where, if he plays one more year or he doesn’t. I know there are people at Fox who would say there’s a chance that he doesn’t call a game there.”

Buck seemed unsure that Brady would be 100 percent committed to joining the Fox broadcast booth and not take the $375 million he was offered.

“I just don’t know,” Buck added.

Unbelievable. Brady taking this sweet job seems like the no-braineriest of no-brainers ever. He'd be stealing money. With zero pressure on him. It would keep his public profile high so he could promote his other side hustles. Not to mention, when you're suddenly single once again it doesn't hurt to be looking devilishly handsome on camera week after week. And I imagine those company parties are positively lousy with leggy blondes from Fox News who are ready to compromise their Judeo-Christian values for the chance to summit Bone Mountain with the GOAT. 

Which are reasons why this makes no sense. But for all his uncertainty, Buck isn't making this up out of whole cloth. He's hearing this from people inside the building. And there's hardly been a rumor about Brady all year that didn't turn out to be on the money. I can't for the life of me understand why he'd turn down the gig. But based on everything, I'm buying this. I think it's just the first of several reports we'll hear until it's finally announced he's not taking the job. 

I just hope whatever he does end up doing, it turns his fortunes around. He doesn't deserve the 2022 he's having.