Buccaneers' Tom Brady on Fox Sports job: 'There'll be a lot of growing pains'

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is sounding and acting like somebody who realizes he's about to participate in his final NFL season as an active player before he rides off into the sunset of retirement. 

Brady admitted in April he knows he doesn't "have a lot left" and that he is "at the end of my career," and he repeated that take during Wednesday's appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show" and also said that he "had the appetite to compete, and it's going to be gone soon." 

The 44-year-old who possesses seven Super Bowl rings has already begun preparing for what comes next, as he's set to join Fox Sports as a lead NFL analyst on a 10-year deal reportedly worth $375 million whenever he retires. Brady spoke with Dan Patrick about his decision to move into that role, perhaps as soon as this winter. 

"Because I'm most familiar with that, just based on the fact that I've been in every production meeting for 22 years since I started playing in 2001," Brady explained, according to Nick Shook of the NFL's website. "I know what those guys are asking, I know what they're asked to do. And I think it very much feels like a team that goes on the road to prepare for a game.

"There's a lot of learning curve, obviously. It's going to be a totally new career. It's a new opportunity for me to try something that I'm going to work really hard to prepare to be as good as I possibly can be. Knowing that, the day that I walk on the set for the first time won't be my finest moment. There'll be a lot of growing pains and I'll have to learn to be really good at it, but I also think there's part of it that excites me."

Earlier this spring, Brady teased he could pursue a career educating people "in different ways to take care of themselves so they can continue doing the things they like." Instead, he learned during his brief hiatus away from the sport that he wants to remain in the football community. 

"I just have had so much experience and if I can help people around the way, talking to coaches, talking to players," Brady added during his comments on Wednesday. "I love the sport of football and I get to be in it. So, I think that's what mostly I got excited about. And I think part of retiring for a very brief period of time was I got to explore a lot of other opportunities. And things had just came up and this was the one that really excited me the most. In the end, although it was kind of abrupt, it ended being very… I'm happy I went through it."

It is, of course, worth noting that Brady hasn't yet confirmed he'll be a former quarterback by this time next year.