Did Cris Collinsworth try to 'scare' Tom Brady out of broadcasting?

NFL analyst and NBC "Sunday Night Football" voice Cris Collinsworth revealed earlier this summer that he was among the many broadcasters who advised Tom Brady over the past year or so as Brady prepared to become Fox's lead in-game analyst.

Collinsworth was one of a handful of players-turned-announcers who recently spoke with NFL Media's Judy Battista about making the jump from the playing field to the broadcasting booth.

"I spend the first 10 minutes trying to talk them out of it — trying to tell them where the pain points are going to be," Collinsworth said about conversations he's had with current or retired players interested in pursuing broadcasting careers. "It's going to be hard. It's a lot more work than you imagine. Usually, I can talk people out of it, or at least scare them a little bit."

Of course, Brady has roughly 375 million reasons to embrace the grueling schedule that comes with serving as a top analyst for one of the NFL's main media partners thanks to the 10-year contract he signed with Fox following the 2021 season. Multiple media insiders insisted throughout the summer that Brady will be "great" working alongside lead play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Burkhardt , but Hall of Famer Kurt Warner warned in 2022 that Brady would eventually have to avoid wanting "to be liked by people" to excel in the booth.

Collinsworth somewhat echoed Warner's take.

"All of them call me when they get the job, and my question is: Do you like being popular? Because you will not be," Collinsworth told Battista. "When I get to Pittsburgh, I talk to the person who drives me from the airport. I talk to the bellhop. What do they think about their team? They've been watching it for 50 years. They know every intimate detail. And on one week's notice, we are expected to know more than those people that have been watching the team for 50 years. ...If you really want to be popular -- if that's what you want to do -- just understand you're going to get picked apart."

Richard Deitsch of The Athletic predicted that "Brady will have moments during the year where you are blown away by his insight and other times where you can’t believe he’s doing No. 1 games." Fox executives likely hope Deitsch is correct considering it's no secret the network assumes Brady's presence will attract fans of the seven-time Super Bowl champion along with viewers who want to watch him fall flat on his face.

"For that mind to be on display," CBS' Charles Davis told Battista about why people will tune in to hear Brady.

Some NFL reporters think Brady will eventually have to choose between working for Fox or serving as a partial owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. On Tuesday, Deitsch once again repeated he's convinced Brady "will not be in broadcasting for long."

Such discussions are for the future and for long after Brady makes his announcing debut on Sunday afternoon.