Fox Sports is spending $375 million to put Tom Brady in the broadcast booth, and the network wants to make sure everyone knows he’s there.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion made his debut as an NFL commentator on Sunday’s regular-season opener between the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns on Fox, but first, as a video of him gushing about Brady aired ahead of the pregame show, studio staffers admitted they couldn’t help but become “fans” of their new colleague.
“How about the announcers!” play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhart said as the camera cut to the broadcast stand in Cleveland, where Brady, clad in a coat and tie, appeared live on screen for the first time. As the broadcast cut to the stand, the former Patriots and Buccaneers quarterback was introduced as a “seven-time Super Bowl champion.”
And, as the kids say, that’s great bragging rights.
Sideline reporter Erin Andrews told Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy that Brady had complimented him on his play-calling, and Charissa Thompson cheered on Brady several times while breaking into the scoreboard during a game between Tampa Bay and the Washington Commanders, one of Brady’s former teams.
Burkhart joked that during another on-screen appearance, he paid special attention to his hair because he knew there would be more shots in the broadcast booth.
“I do what I’m told. I understand that,” Brady said with a laugh. “I’m still the rookie here.”
To the viewers, that was obvious.
Brady’s commentary was predictably knowledgeable but lacked personality — there was no Tony Romo predicting the next play, no John Madden wearing a turducken and yelling “BOOM!”, not even the quarter-zip sweater that distinguished Peyton Manning among the dozens, if not hundreds, of former athletes who have joined the media after their retirement.
It was marked by awkward laughter, an awkward fist-bump with rules commentator Mike Pereira, calling players by their first names (including an unnecessarily deferential reference to “Coach McCarthy”). Brady refused to blame Cleveland receiver Amari Cooper after a pass went through his hands in the fourth quarter, and tried to find the positives in a terrible performance while making excuses for the Browns.
“Tom Brady is to broadcasting what Michael Jordan is to baseball,” one X user posted.
(Of course, Brady, a sixth-round draft pick, spent his first NFL season as the Patriots’ fourth-string quarterback and has developed well as a quarterback.)
To make matters worse, Dallas led 27-3 early in the second half and was on track to win the game by such a large margin that even the veteran play-by-play announcer would have a hard time keeping the crowd interested. But Brady was able to thrive with his experience.
“There’s plenty of time left in this game,” said the quarterback who famously led the Patriots from a 28-3 deficit to Atlanta in Super Bowl 51. “The margin for error is small.”
On one play, Brady instructed Deshaun Watson to throw a pass to an open tight end, but the Browns quarterback didn’t see it.
Brady played 23 years in the NFL and is the most decorated player in league history when he retires after the 2022 season. He signed a 10-year contract with Fox Sports to replace the highly-regarded Greg Olsen as the network’s lead commentator. Brady took a break last year, but that hiatus raised hopes that he could bring some of the knowledge and skills he developed on the field to the commentary booth.
The ad, which aired minutes before kickoff, showed Brady in a variety of football uniforms and talking to his current self, asking why he didn’t spend the estimated $450 million he made during his playing career “lying on the beach drinking piña coladas and getting fat.”
“What they’re really asking is, ‘Why don’t you quit football?’ They don’t understand that you live for football, you breathe football, because you’re Tom Brady,” says one helmet-wearing Brady after another, “and our football journey isn’t over yet.”
“I’m going back to work,” Brady says now.
Brady won seven NFL Finals games (six with New England and one with Tampa Bay), was a five-time Super Bowl MVP and cemented himself as the greatest player in the league’s history. He retired holding the career records for wins, playoff wins, passing touchdowns, playoff passing touchdowns, passing yards and playoff passing yards.
While Brady hasn’t entirely avoided controversy throughout his career, most notably the two-year Deflategate scandal that led to a four-game suspension for misconduct, his comments have rarely made the news.
Brady’s new career has already been hampered by his concurrent attempt to buy a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, which will deny him the access to team facilities, players and coaches that other broadcasters enjoy. He also must abide by league rules and bylaws that prohibit him from publicly criticizing officials or other clubs, although he is allowed to broadcast Raiders games.
The highly anticipated debut drew some attention from a game between the defending NFC East champion Cowboys, who signed quarterback Dak Prescott to a record four-year, $240 million contract early Sunday, and the Browns, who are not expected to make the playoffs.
As the final 30 seconds ticked down with the Cowboys winning, 33-17, Brady and Burkhart discussed their new partnership as much as the game itself. Back in the studio, Michael Strahan chose Brady, over any other player, as the day’s biggest winner. Brady offered up some wisdom he learned from a fellow athlete-turned-TV personality: “You wake up tomorrow, Monday morning, and you won’t be sore.”
“I’m very happy about that,” Brady said.
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