Tom Brady takes awkward first steps from football field to broadcast booth

By JIMMY GOLEN

Fox Sports is spending $375 million to put Tom Brady in the commentary booth and wants to make sure everyone knows he’s there.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion made his NFL analyst debut during Fox’s broadcast of the regular-season opener between the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns on Sunday. But not before a promo for Brady appeared ahead of the pregame show, in which the studio team admitted they couldn’t help but “fanboy” their new collaborator.

“You’re a commentator, what do you say?” commentator Kevin Burkhardt said as the camera panned to the Cleveland booth, where Brady, in a coat and tie, made his first live appearance on screen. The former Patriots and Buccaneers quarterback was identified as they cut to the booth as “a seven-time Super Bowl champion.”

And as the kids say, it’s quite a show.

Sideline reporter Erin Andrews made sure Dallas coach Mike McCarthy knew Brady had praised his plays. Charissa Thompson gave him a few shout-outs when she chimed in with a score update on the game between Tampa Bay, one of his former teams, and the Washington Commanders.

During another on-screen appearance, Burkhardt joked that he paid extra attention to his hair because he knew there would be more shots of the commentary booth.

“I do what I’m told. I understand that,” Brady said with a smile. “I’m still a newbie here.”

It was obvious to the audience.

Brady’s commentary was competent, as you might expect, but it lacked personality — there was no Tony Romo anticipating the next play, no John Madden with his “Boom!” and turducken, not even the zip-up sweaters that distinguished Peyton Manning from the dozens or hundreds of other former athletes who joined the media after their playing careers ended.

There were awkward laughs, an embarrassing fist bump with rules analyst Mike Pereira, and plenty of first-name addressing (along with an unnecessarily reverential reference to “Coach McCarthy”), as Brady refused to call out Cleveland receiver Amari Cooper when a pass went through his hands in the fourth quarter and made excuses for the Browns while trying to find positives in a terrible performance.

As one X user wrote on Twitter, “Tom Brady is to reporting what Michael Jordan is to baseball.”

(Of course, Brady, a sixth-round draft pick who spent his first NFL season as the Patriots’ fourth-string quarterback, has thrived in that role.)

It didn’t help that the game, in which Dallas led 27-3 early in the second half, was heading toward a crushing defeat that even a seasoned commentator would have struggled to keep the audience interested. But that’s where Brady was able to use his experience to his advantage.

“There’s a ton of time left in this game,” said the quarterback who famously led the Patriots to a 28-3 comeback in Super Bowl 51 against Atlanta. “There’s just not much margin for error.”

On one play, Brady called on Deshaun Watson to pass the ball to the open quarterback; the Browns quarterback did not see it coming.

Brady played in the NFL for 23 years before retiring after the 2022 season as the league’s most decorated player ever. He signed a 10-year contract with Fox Sports — replacing the esteemed Greg Olsen as the network’s lead analyst. Brady took a break last year, which only raised expectations about whether he could transfer some of his on-field knowledge and skills to the booth.

Minutes before tip-off, the ad shows Brady in his various football uniforms talking to his present self, wondering why he didn’t just take the estimated $450 million he made during his playing career and “lie down on the beach and gain weight on pina coladas.”

“They really are asking, ‘Why don’t you quit football?’ They don’t understand that you live and breathe football. Because you’re Tom Freaking Brady,” say another helmeted Brady. “And our football journey isn’t over yet.”

“Let’s get back to work,” says the current Brady.

With five Super Bowl MVP awards in seven NFL title game wins — six for New England and one for Tampa Bay — Brady cemented his place as the greatest player in league history. He retired with career records for wins and playoff sacks, passing touchdowns and playoff passing touchdowns, and passing yards and playoff passing yards, among other top scores.

While he has not entirely avoided controversy throughout his career — most notably during the two-year Deflategate scandal that led to a four-game suspension for cheating — Brady has rarely made headlines with his remarks.

Brady’s new career has already taken a hit, as his simultaneous bid to buy a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders means he won’t have the same access to team facilities, players and coaches that other broadcasters get. He also has to abide by the league’s constitution and bylaws, which prohibit public criticism of officials and other clubs; he can broadcast Raiders games.

The highly anticipated debut drew some of the attention from the game between the defending NFC East champion Cowboys, who signed quarterback Dak Prescott to a record four-year, $240 million contract extension earlier Sunday, and the Browns, who are expected to miss the playoffs.

As the final 30 seconds ticked away after the Cowboys won 33-17, Brady and Burkhardt talked as much about their new partnership as they did about the game itself. Back in the studio, Michael Strahan picked Brady — not any player — as the day’s biggest winner, and Brady offered a piece of wisdom from his fellow athlete-turned-TV personality: “You’re going to wake up tomorrow, Monday morning, and you’re not going to be sore.”

“That,” Brady said, “makes me very happy.”

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Originally published: September 8, 2024 at 5:26 PM