For Tom Brady and Fox, Sunday was a first step toward the broadcast that really matters

It’s funny that the man who is considered the greatest NFL player of all time, and who has a 10-year, $375 million contract to talk football games, seemed a little nervous about starting his career as a TV host at Fox.

Tom Brady — the 47-year-old, seven-time Super Bowl champion — sounded like a rookie on Sunday. His syntax was wooden. His interesting thoughts were limited. It was a little awkward.

During the Dallas Cowboys’ blowout defeat of the Cleveland Browns, Fox smartly showed Brady on camera a few times — when you get a star like Brady, you show him! — but he missed a few opportunities to showcase the humor and personality that we’d heard were being hidden by former head coach Bill Belichick in New England.

When play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt called viewers into the booth in the first half, Brady tried to emphasize his team-first mentality by making a fist bump with referee analyst Mike Pereira. Pereira looked away.

Brady held his fist up and Pereira eventually got it, but it was fitting for Brady’s debut: the timing was a little odd.

Brady eventually calmed down a bit and showed flashes. In the second quarter, he laid out “breather plays” designed to give Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott a breather from battling Browns All-Pro defensive lineman Myles Garrett by rolling out and moving away from the rush.

During garbage time, when the Cowboys were big, he showed some charisma and passion, seemingly referring to Belichick, following a report from Erin Andrews, by saying, “I played for a coach who didn’t mind berating his players.” He then went on to sincerely explain why this was a good thing, letting his competitive, do-it-the-right-way personality shine.

In today’s social media environment, it sometimes seems like you only have five seconds to make a first impression, but in reality, Fox and Brady just need Brady to develop throughout the season so he’s at his best when the playoffs and Super Bowl roll around.

As a player, that was his time. It’s similar to broadcasting — especially if your network has the Super Bowl.

Fox Sports is expected to draw about 28 million viewers, or so, for Sunday’s game. On Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans, Brady is expected to be analyzed by more than 100 million viewers.

If the growth Brady showed from the first quarter to the fourth quarter continues, things should be fine. Brady gives Fox a lot to work with.

Fox Sports has already shown that it can develop an analyst from the off-field to the Super Bowl booth. Burkhardt and Greg Olsen called the big game two years ago and they did a good job.

Olsen was a debutant with number 1 that year, although he had the advantage of playing one full season at Burkhardt before gaining promotion.

Olsen, demoted to the No. 2 team with a $10 million salary cut to about $3 million a year, attended the Pittsburgh Steelers’ win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday and delivered a masterclass in all aspects ahead of Brady’s first appearance.

After agreeing to play for Fox, Brady played one more season, retired, took a gap year, and by all accounts worked very hard to prepare for Sunday. During the NFL exhibition season, he called two and a half live games in August.

In the weeks leading up to the opener, Fox Sports tried to temper expectations for Brady by limiting pregame talk, but the big message from its producers, sources said, was for Brady to be himself. That’s not as easy as it seems in fast-paced NFL action.

The mechanics of broadcasting an NFL game are all about making the complicated simple. There is so much complexity in a football game that head coaches often say they have to watch game film when they can see all 22 people on the field at once.

GALLING DEEPER

Tom Brady was a man learning his craft in real time when he made his NFL broadcast debut

To be a good game analyst, fans want insider information and analysis, but it has to be presented at a level that is understandable and delivered quickly, between plays. Brady, especially early on, offered too much remedial, player-speak, saying you don’t want negative yards and that players need to bring juice.

He tried to find out, but of course he didn’t get much response on social media and other platforms.

NFL Channel’s “RedZone” host Scott Hanson even got in on the action, questioning Brady’s enthusiasm as the Cowboys considered ending the first half with a 71-yard field goal attempt.

“Brady has got to get a lot more excited in the booth,” Hanson said.

That’s not really the problem with Brady. He showed enthusiasm. Burkhardt’s touchdown calls included him saying, “Ohhh!”

On a fundamental level, this is not what you want because it prevents a play-by-player and the audience from making a clean call. But it is cool to hear the player who is considered the best ever come up after a touchdown. Still, he has to wait a few more ticks. It’s about him finding his voice in the booth.

At one point after signing with Fox, Brady spoke about being like Johnny Miller, the famously sharp golf analyst. He certainly wasn’t like Miller on Day 1. The job isn’t all about being critical, but Brady failed to ask a lot of questions.

Since retiring, he’s made some striking observations, including that rookie quarterbacks aren’t really ready to play their first season.

Earlier on Sunday, No. 1 draft pick Caleb Williams threw for just 93 yards in his debut in Chicago, but the Bears still won.

Brady’s personal performance was a bit like Williams’. It was a win for Fox to have Brady on the air, even if his performance wasn’t great.

Now, there are a lot of weeks between his next game Sunday and the Super Bowl. He and Fox have plenty of time. That said, if he still sounds like a rookie on February 9, he won’t be the only one nervous.

(Top image: Meech Robinson / The Athletics; photos: Jose Breton / Pics Action / NurPhoto via Getty Images; Icon Sportswire via Getty Images; Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images)