Terry Bradshaw is testing FOX’s patience, making headlines again. Despite the network’s tight restrictions and constant monitoring of everything he says on air or in print, the Hall of Famer still made a bold appearance on Morning Mayhem.

On a podcast afterward, he pushed back even harder, openly challenging the network’s grip on his voice.

“Can you believe this, FOX? They listen to absolutely everything I say on the radio and everything I put in print,” Bradshaw said on the Morning Mayhem podcast.

“And just this week, they told me, ‘You’ve got to stay away from this.’ (I won’t say it again because I don’t want to be quoted.) ‘You’ve got to stay away from this. You’ve got to stay away from that.’”

Bradshaw has been a mainstay on FOX NFL Sunday since the show’s inception in 1994. But Front Office Sports reports that the broadcast heavyweights appear “reluctant” to share their top broadcasters, among them Tom Brady, Kevin Burkhardt, Joe Buck, and Troy Aikman, with any other competitor shows.

Well, one of the major reasons for Terry not abiding by the strict ban of Fox might be the network’s own contradicting decision to allow Drew Brees to commentate on Netflix’s Christmas Day games, while still blocking Bradshaw and Michael Strahan from doing similar outside work.

David Bazzel, the host of the radio station, responded to the ban by saying;

“You should say what you want. You’re 77 years old. You’re one of the greatest players of all time. They should be lucky you’re still hanging around. So, that’s just my point.”

Surely enough, Terry Bradshaw’s contribution was a big win for the network, as he became an essential part of the country’s most popular NFL pregame show. This show, FOX NFL Sunday, first aired in September 1994, and for the past 31 years, it has been the most-watched NFL pregame show every single season.

Considering how much sports media changes, this consistent success is quite remarkable. Speaking about the last season, the show, featuring a cast including Curt Menefee, Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson, Michael Strahan, Rob Gronkowski, Jay Glazer, and Bradshaw, finished the 2024 regular season with a strong average of 4.4 million viewers each week. And the legend will continue to deliver.

Fox NFL responds to Terry Bradshaw’s retirement rumors

Curt Menefee, the host of Fox NFL Sunday, recently spoke to the Daily Mail about whether his co-host, Terry Bradshaw, might retire soon. Bradshaw was absent from the show earlier this season, to be specific, in the month of November during week 11, because he was sick due to a cold. But his absence stirred a buzz online. 

“It’s never gonna happen!” “They’re going to be carrying him out in a hearse — he is not leaving the show.” 

Menefee pointed out that Bradshaw is the foundation of the show,

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“It was built around him [Bradshaw] — he was the first guy they hired… He was the first guy on air for this network,” Menefee continued. “I don’t think he’s ever, ever going to leave. And nor should he. He is the heart and soul of everything we do at Fox Sports.”

This isn’t the first time Bradshaw’s retirement has been discussed. The topic came out earlier when he beat bladder cancer and a rare Merkel cell skin cancer in his neck in the year 2021 and 2022, but his absence this season brought up the topic again.

Earlier this year, at Super Bowl LIX, Bradshaw had mentioned he thought he had “two years left at Fox.” He is currently 76 and said, “It’s a young man’s game.”

However, Bradshaw later changed his tune. Even though his current contract with Fox runs for two more years, he now says he wants to stay on the show until 2029, which is when Fox is scheduled to host the Super Bowl broadcast again.