'Shut your face': Shaquille O'Neal slams critics of Tom Brady's $375m deal

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal says that critics of Tom Brady’s $375m deal with Fox Sports need to “shut your face.”

On Thursday’s episode of his show, The Big Podcast with Shaq, he spoke about the Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback’s broadcasting future with his co-hosts, Nischelle Turner and Spice Adams – particularly the 10-year deal worth nine figures following his NFL retirement.

O’Neal also made it clear that anyone turning their nose up to Brady’s deal is a “hater.”

“When it comes to greatness of this kind, if you lend any anger, you’re a hater,” O’Neal said.

“Everybody can’t and ain’t gonna get this money. Seven Super Bowls. Clean cut. Good looking. Speaks well. He deserves all the money. Whoever says he don’t deserve this money, shut your face.”

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On Tuesday, Fox Sports confirmed that Brady, 44, will go into the booth when he hangs up his football cleats for good.

In February, the seven-time Super Bowl champion briefly stepped away from the sport. But 40 days later, he came out of retirement to rejoin the Buccaneers.

Taking to Twitter, Brady wrote: “Excited, but a lot of unfinished business on the field with the @Buccaneers #LFG.”

The Post first reported on Tuesday that Fox’s deal with the football icon would net him close to $40m a year.

Once he does officially retire from the NFL, Brady will join forces with Kevin Burkhardt in the booth.

Although we don’t know when Brady will make his broadcasting debut, Kurt Warner, a fellow quarterback-tuned sports analyst, said that he could face some challenges.

“You go from being great at something to wondering if you’re ever going to be good at anything else. “You have to fight that battle just like anybody else does that goes from one job to another,” he told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Warner also said that building “your confidence up” is necessary as well as figuring out “who you want to be.”

For now, Brady is putting his focus on his 23rd NFL season, which starts on Sunday, September 11, as the team has a Week 1 road game against the Dallas Cowboys.

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