During their first interaction in the Fox Sports booth on Sunday, Tom Brady was nearly stood up by Mike Pereira.
Pereira turned his head and didn’t see the former quarterback – who was making his debut as Fox’s lead NFL analyst alongside Kevin Burkhardt – attempting to fist bump him before the Cowboys’ game against the Browns.
“Look, it’s Mike Pereira!” said Burkhardt, pointing in his direction.
Brady, standing in the middle of the two, looked over at Pereira and raised his fist in greeting, but Pereira had already turned his head and did not see it.
“Good to see you, buddy,” Brady said. “Oh, don’t let me down.”
The seven-time Super Bowl winner played it off and laughed before Pereira finally punched him back.
“Let’s go!” said Brady.
“It’s so nice to be back with you,” Pereira added.
Pereira missed the 2023 season in the locker room after undergoing back surgery.
“About six months ago, I posted that I was taking a year off from Fox due to back surgery,” Pereira said in March.
“Five months ago, my back was fused at seven levels, from T11 to S1. Eight and a half hours of surgery! During recovery, they asked me what my goals were. I told them two. The first was to be able to walk again. The second was that I wanted to go back to work.”
Brady performed well in his highly anticipated debut, which came more than two years after signing a 10-year, $375 million contract with Fox Sports.
Brady was cautious in his transitions and in his dialogue with Burkhardt – and appeared warm and confident in Dallas’ 33-17 victory over Cleveland.
