Monday Night Football play-by-play man Joe Buck said he wouldn't "be floored" by seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady making an NFL comeback.
Buck, 55, who previously worked as the lead NFL play-by-play man for FOX Sports, the position held by Brady's upcoming on-air parter Kevin Burkhardt, before joining ESPN/ABC in 2002, acknowledged the retired quarterback recently saying he was "not opposed" to a potential comeback during a virtual interview with Chris O'Gorman for Questions for Cancer Research.
“I would never bet against him,” Buck said. “I feel like he said that with a kind of twinkle in his eye. I don’t know him very well at all but I think that would be a stretch. But if there’s anybody who could do it, I would say it’s him. If there’s anybody who’s going to stay in shape so he could do it, I would say it would be him.
“Would I be floored if it happened or if he came back and somehow guided a team into the postseason? No. Because I think he knows with his savvy and his mind and his experience where to go with the ball, when to go with the ball, and could get through a game maybe if he was 60…I do know he’s pouring a lot of work into being a broadcaster. I’m anxious, like everybody, to hear how that is.”
Brady teased a potential NFL comeback during an appearance on the 'Deep Cut' podcast released in April.
"I'm not opposed to it," Brady said when asked by host Vic Blends if he'd answer the call from an NFL team needing a quarterback due to injury. "I don't know if they are going to let me if I become an owner of an NFL team. I'm always going to be in good shape. I'll always be able to throw the ball. So, to come in for a little bit, like MJ [Michael Jordan] coming back, I don't know if they would let me. But I wouldn't be opposed to it."
Blends mentioned a hypothetical scenario where the San Francisco 49ers, Brady's favorite team during his childhood in San Mateo, California, needed to sign a quarterback ahead of the postseason, which led to the seven-time Super Bowl champion also mentioning the New England Patriots, his team for the first 20 seasons and six Super Bowls of his NFL career, as well as the Las Vegas Raiders, with whom he has a deal to become a minority owner pending league approval. Brady, 46, announced he was "retiring for good" after 23 NFL seasons in a video shared on his official social media accounts on February 1, 2023, previously announced his retirement last offseason before announcing his decision to return several weeks later.
"My career and all that, that's a thing of the past in my mind," Brady said during the 'Deep Cut' interview. "I was a gladiator out there, and now my time has moved on. Now it's, 'OK, how can I deliver for my next group of teammates?'"
Brady is set to become FOX Sports' lead NFL analyst as part of a deal that was agreed to take place following the conclusion of his playing career, having taken a gap year to spend time with his family and prepare for the job.
"I love having this challenge to try something different in my life. It's going to challenge me in a lot of different ways," Brady said during the 'Deep Cut' interview.
The San Mateo native is the NFL's all-time passing leader for yards and touchdowns, as well as quarterback wins, among numerous other records.