Shortly after retiring from arguably the most excellent NFL career, Tom Brady turned to life after football. In 2024, he began his new role as the lead color commentator for FOX. While reviews of his work have been mixed, Skip Bayless didn’t hold back when criticizing Brady’s performance during the Bears-Cowboys game he was calling.
Skip Bayless Rips Tom Brady’s Performance as a Broadcaster
There’s no denying that Brady is one of the greatest football players of all time. In his 23-year NFL career, he put together a historic resume, finishing his career as the league’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns and winning a whopping seven Super Bowl titles.
However, he has not met expectations in his early broadcast career. His first season and a few games as FOX’s lead color commentator have been criticized for a lack of excitement and flow. Bayless took that criticism to another level on Sunday during the Bears-Cowboys game that Brady was calling.
Bayless, who ironically used to work for FOX, took to X to air his grievances about Brady’s work in the booth. The analyst didn’t hold back, calling the former quarterback boring and pointing to his conflicting role as a minority owner of the Raiders as another reason for his struggles as a commentator.
“I always defended Tom Brady the quarterback, but Brady the broadcaster is Captain Obvious, vanilla extract, both hands tied behind his back because he chose to be a Raiders owner,” Bayless wrote on X.
I always defended Tom Brady the quarterback, but Brady the broadcaster is Captain Obvious, vanilla extract, both hands tied behind his back because he chose to be a Raiders owner. Now Fox has to run ads promoting him during timeouts.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) September 21, 2025
They’re harsh words from Bayless, especially considering FOX handed Brady a massive 10-year, $375 million contract to become the network’s lead color analyst. The move demoted former NFL tight end Greg Olsen to FOX’s B-team, who is generally well-liked as a broadcaster.
Bayless’ criticism isn’t entirely new, as plenty of fans complained about Brady in 2024, his first season in the booth. Back in January, Brady addressed the criticism, admitting he knew the job would be challenging and that there would be bumps in the road as he worked to improve as a commentator.
While Bayless’s opinion may reflect how many fans feel, his words should not carry too much weight since he has built his career on overreacting and dramatizing issues that are often not as serious as he makes them out to be.
Being underrated and doubted is nothing new for Brady, who famously slipped to the sixth round of the 1999 NFL Draft and began his career as a backup in New England before building what many consider the greatest career in NFL history.
If history indicates anything, Brady will eventually settle in as a broadcaster just like he did as a quarterback.
