Four more years! That’s how much Terry Bradshaw thinks he has left before the NFL on Fox analyst will be ready to retire.
This isn’t the first time Bradshaw teased retirement. The four-time Super Bowl champion wasn’t even 60 years old in 2008 when he revealed plans to retire in 2011. Plans that obviously fell through. And two years ago, Bradshaw furthered the goal posts by claiming he would like to die on-air in hopes of boosting ratings as a sort of parting gift for Fox. How thoughtful.
With Fox hosting Super Bowl LIX this week, the 76-year-old Bradshaw was asked about retirement again. And again, Bradshaw had new retirement plans.
“I told my wife before I left the hotel room, I was sitting there, I said, ‘I’ve got two years left at Fox. I’m 76,’” Bradshaw said. “It’s a young man’s game. I get that. Everybody wants their new [people]. I said, if we can get to the next Super Bowl, I’ll be 80. I think that’s time. That’s pushing it.”
Bradshaw wants four more years, but that will obviously depend on Fox being willing to renew his contract. As Bradshaw noted, “it’s a young man’s game,” which CBS proved last year when they moved Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason off their studio show in favor of Matt Ryan.
Fox, however, doesn’t seem to be overly concerned with the age of its studio show. For more than three decades, Fox NFL Sunday has been the highest rated pregame studio show on TV. Bradshaw, Howie Long and an 81-year-old Jimmy Johnson have been there since its inception, aside from Johnson’s six-year hiatus that included a stint as head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
Fox has introduced some young blood over the years with Michael Strahan and Rob Gronkowski. But Bradshaw, Long and Johnson remain the stalwarts of that show.
The question is, are NFL fans ready for Bradshaw to retire? He often gets criticized for his inability to read through a highlight package without stumbling or making a notable mistake. But don’t blame that on age, he’s been doing it for decades. What Bradshaw lacks in highlight reads, he makes up for it with humor and brashness.
At some point, Fox will have to make a change. Whether they agree with Bradshaw on that being in four years remains to be seen.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com