Phil Simms unconvinced Tom Brady will call NFL games for Fox

Add former quarterback and current "The NFL Today" analyst Phil Simms to the list of people unconvinced Tom Brady will ever call a league game for Fox. 

"I don’t know," Simms told Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports. "I just can’t picture Tom Brady up there announcing games. You know why? He’s Tom Brady. He’s just bigger than life … In this day and age, is it worth it for him? Hey, I think they’ll use him in different ways. I don’t care. I’m going to say he doesn’t do games. They’ll put him on a pregame show and let him talk a little. There’s lots of ways to use him. He’s Tom Brady…He looks good. And he knows a lot of football, that’s for sure. So yes, I think they’ll use him in a different way. I don’t have any insight – and I don’t even care. But I’ll be surprised if he does games. I will be." 

It was learned in the spring of 2022 that Brady and Fox agreed to a 10-year contract reportedly worth $375M for the future Hall of Famer to eventually make the jump to the broadcast booth as the network's lead NFL analyst. 

Brady told Colin Cowherd this past February he's taking a "gap year" away from the league following his second and "for good" retirement but added at that time he intends to begin his broadcasting career in 2024. 

However, ESPN's Joe Buck, current Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton and Cowherd are among noteworthy personalities who have publicly expressed doubts that Brady will serve as a weekly game announcer for Fox. 

Additionally, current No. 1 Fox NFL analyst Greg Olsen made it known in February he is "not gonna roll over and die" and simply let Brady take his chair. 

"And you know, too, Greg Olsen did a good job this year," Simms continued during his comments. "That has to make you sit back and wonder. So we’ll see."

Brady, who turns 46 this coming August, has yet to emphatically slam the door shut on potentially joining a Super Bowl contender as a free agent during training camp this summer. 

Perhaps members of the NFL community will only believe TB12 is truly retired from playing when they see him working in some role with Fox, maybe as soon as during the 2023-24 playoffs.