It was reported earlier this spring that former Saints quarterback Drew Brees would not return to NBC as a studio analyst for a second year. According to the Associated Press, NBC Sports Chairman Pete Bevacqua will no longer be a part of the network’s NFL and Notre Dame football coverage.
“The unbelievable busyness of an NFL career and then really not taking a break at all and launching right in with us with both Notre Dame football and the NFL, it was certainly an around-the-clock assignment,” Bevacqua said.
“This was definitely a lifestyle choice for him, which is totally understandable,” Bevacqua continued.
After retiring from the NFL after the 2020 season with the Saints, Brees signed a multi-year deal with the network.
He worked as an analyst for Notre Dame games and in the studio for NBC’s Sunday Night Football lead-in, Football Night in America. He also worked alongside Mike Tirico to call a playoff game between the Raiders and the Bengals, which received mixed reviews.
Brees was not happy with the work he was doing
Brees “preferred doing games” over studio work, according to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, but the network “soured on Brees’s potential after originally believing he could develop into the heir apparent to Cris Collinsworth on Sunday Night Football games.”
In his statement, Bevacqua made a point of praising Brees’ work. “It was a new role and everyone has a learning curve. I think he did an unbelievable job with Notre Dame and improved every week.”
“He was always unbelievably prepared, curious about how things were handled and the work that went into it,” Bevacqua ended.
Marca
