CBS' Phil Simms, Nate Burleson offer broadcasting advice to Tom Brady

Current CBS Sports NFL personalities Phil Simms and Nate Burleson recently spoke with Damian Burchardt of The US Sun at an event related to the Beyond the Big Game exhibition in New York City and offered some broadcasting advice to retired quarterback Tom Brady ahead of Brady becoming Fox's lead NFL analyst next season. 

"Undertalk if anything," Simms, a Super Bowl Most Valuable Player during his days as an active signal-caller, said while recalling what he learned early into his off-the-field career. "You never go wrong that way. Sometimes it's hard to do. A lot of guys on TV don't have that."

Greg Olsen and Fox lead play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt will call this Sunday's NFC Championship game between the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers, but Olsen has essentially confirmed in interviews that he will be replaced by Brady later this year. Brady and Fox agreed to a 10-year deal reportedly worth $375M in 2022, and the seven-time Super Bowl champion spent a "gap year" studying NFL broadcasts and receiving coaching from individuals such as former New England Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak. 

"Once he gets the hang of how it goes, [it] won't take long," Simms added about Brady. "It's not like NFL football. It's a lot easier. And he's got to talk about football, so that's pretty easy."

For a piece published on Jan. 3, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported that Simms may not return to CBS' "The NFL Today" show for another season. Simms' contract expires following the network's coverage of Super Bowl LVIII, and Marchand wrote that the future of the CBS program "is definitely centered around Nate Burleson, who could eventually host the show, and part-timer J.J. Watt, who could have a bigger role if he wants it." 

Burleson, a former NFL wide receiver, has little doubt that Brady will succeed with CBS' competition. 

"I'll just say, approach media the same way you approach football," Burleson told Burchardt about Brady the broadcaster. "He'll take over just like he did on the field. Tom Brady is one of those guys that gives everything that he has to whatever it is that he's doing and he's pursuing. So I know [that] Tom Brady, when he steps into the booth, he's going to be perfectly fine."

Even though Brady reportedly attracted interest last offseason for what he could offer a team as a starting quarterback, there's no indication the 46-year-old wants to attempt a second playing comeback at this point of his life. He'll have some pretty big shoes to fill at Fox considering Olsen has become a fan-favorite in the lead chair over the past couple of seasons.