How Tom Brady Prepared for His Debut as an NFL Broadcaster on Fox

September 4, 2024

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How Tom Brady Prepared for His Debut as an NFL Broadcaster on Fox

When Tom Brady took his off-season between his final NFL game in early 2023 and his $375 million Fox Sports analyst debut last Sunday, he studied NFL broadcasts as if he were trying to develop a quarterback defense.

Known for his meticulousness, Brady not only studied fellow lead analysts like CBS’s Tony Romo, ESPN’s Troy Aikman and NBC’s Cris Collinsworth to see how they did their jobs, but also in conversations with Fox Sports executive producer Brad Zager, play-by-play partner Kevin Burkhardt and the network’s No. 1 game producer, Richie Zyontz, Brady asked how many producers talk in your earpiece during a game or what a director does. He also made a point of going around each room to try to learn the names of everyone on the crew.

“I’m the rookie,” Brady told one of his new colleagues. “I want to be a good teammate.”

With Brady — the seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback who is widely regarded as the greatest player in the history of the game and now holds the most lucrative contract as a celebrity sports commentator of all time — Fox Sports has attempted to publicly temper expectations for what is likely the most anticipated debut of a television game analyst in history.

Fox declined to comment or make Brady available for this article. Brady did appear on Colin Cowherd’s FS1 show, “The Herd,” on Monday, where he focused primarily on talking football. It’s all in an overarching effort to make Sunday and beyond as comfortable as possible for Brady, who by all accounts is eager to get started.

“It can’t happen soon enough,” Brady told Cowherd of his television debut.

The Athletics spoke with sources familiar with Brady’s preparations to find out what the New England Patriots legend has been doing to get ready for his broadcasting debut. The journey began nearly two and a half years ago, when Fox’s Lachlan Murdoch announced the signing in May 2022, with the astronomical financials being reported shortly after.

Tom Brady covered the UFL championship game for Fox in June, his first appearance on the network as he prepares for his NFL regular-season debut on Sunday. (Rick Ulreich/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The following season, Brady’s last as a player, he and Fox Sports executives agreed that he should try to win a Super Bowl, since they would host it. Communication was limited after he was done playing, but the hope was to meet at the Super Bowl, which Brady had won two seasons earlier with his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Brady didn’t make it to the big game, but the man he’s replacing, Greg Olsen, did, earning rave reviews from Burkhardt on the Fox broadcast. Before that Super Bowl, Fox announced that Brady would take a year off from playing and broadcasting. Once he was done as quarterback, the real preparations began, which will culminate in Sunday’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns.

At 47, Brady will once again take center stage as his first season as an NFL analyst concludes and he will join Burkhardt to cover the Super Bowl on Feb. 9 in New Orleans.

The location of the big game is a perfect analogy to 22 years ago, when Brady won his first Super Bowl at the Superdome. It was also the last broadcast for the legendary Fox team of Pat Summerall and John Madden.

Brady has been open about reaching out to Romo, Collinsworth, Aikman and seemingly every announcer in the business. But on Sunday, the advice that top producers at Fox Sports drummed into him was: “Be yourself!”

While Fox is trying to temper expectations by pulling back on most official media coverage, it’s going all out this weekend. On Saturday, before his alma mater Michigan’s game against Texas, Brady will narrate the teaser for the Fox broadcast and then appear during halftime, according to sources familiar with the network’s plans.

Brady played his final game on January 16, 2023, completing 35 of 66 passes for 351 yards against the Cowboys in a 31-14 wild-card loss. He would announce his retirement shortly thereafter and take his “gap year” before hitting the booth.

The seemingly jet-set Brady has made several appearances on Fox Sports, working monitors and announcing old games. In May, he got a taste of Detroit announcing the Michigan Panthers vs. Memphis Showboats game with Burkhardt.

“He’s a hard worker,” a new colleague called him.

Brady has covered two and a half live NFL games. In early August, he covered half of a preseason game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Seattle Seahawks on a Saturday, then covered the entire LA Rams-Cowboys game the following game. And his last rehearsal came in late August at a game between the San Francisco 49ers and Las Vegas Raiders. He made his first broadcast during the network’s UFL coverage earlier this summer.

Tom Brady is already feeling pretty comfortable in his new job 👏

He makes his debut as a commentator for @FOXSports at the UFL Championship Game.

🎥 @TheUFL photo.twitter.com/4Hk6fqcMUX

— The Athletics (@TheAthletic) June 16, 2024

For the last eight months, before these live rehearsals, Brady has been going all out. In January, in Miami, where he has a home, he observed NBC production by standing in the booth with Collinsworth and play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico and climbing into the truck with their lead producer, Rob Hyland. Besides the convenience of the location, the reason Brady observed the NBC crew rather than the Fox one was partly out of respect for Olsen, who is being moved to the second team with Brady’s arrival.

Fox and Brady have tried to create an equal pocket so he can succeed. Last April, he was the center of attention at a lavish retreat with his closest Fox teammates. There have been dinners that caught the attention of the New York Post’s Page Six and TMZ, which ran Zager’s photo next to Brady all over the Internet.

These are just a few of the many outings Fox staffers have had with Brady in an effort to make Sunday a seamless experience. Those who knew him can’t help but notice the star power that surrounds him, which is saying a lot when you consider the likes of Derek Jeter, David Ortiz and Terry Bradshaw on Fox Sports’ roster of big names.

During this pre-season, whenever Brady is on the field, he is the center of attention. Players like the Cowboys’ Micah Parsons know where to find Brady and even ask Burkhardt to use their phones to take pictures.

Meanwhile, the NFL has ruled that Brady will not be allowed to participate in any team production meetings since he is not yet an owner of the Raiders, ESPN first reported.

The decision will likely disappoint more than it will affect Brady’s performance. (Brady is not allowed to talk to coaches or players on the phone, and Burkhardt, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi can relay information. Fox doesn’t seem to mind.)

Tom Brady talks with Dallas’ Micah Parsons, left, and Trevon Diggs before the Cowboys-Rams preseason game last month. Brady called two full preseason games leading up to Sunday. (James D. Smith via AP)

Through all that practice, it’s likely to be his timing that will make or break Brady’s performance. That’s perhaps the hardest aspect for new broadcasters to learn. The gap year was Brady’s choice, but it was probably a good one for his development.

Players who do what Brady did don’t grow up dreaming of standing in a broadcast booth to call a Super Bowl. They fantasize about winning as a quarterback. As a result, they don’t study the mechanics of what it takes to be a good commentator. Brady, sources say, has been meticulous about understanding the process.

“I’ve never met anyone so curious about how everything works,” said a Fox Sports colleague.

There’s no doubt that Brady will see the game at that Peyton Manning level, with that same perfection in noticing details. Brady doesn’t have to be overly critical, although he did say on his SiriusXM podcast that he wants to emulate the sharp-eyed old golf analyst Johnny Miller. He can be in the news, even if it’s not intentional, just because of who he is.

What Brady has tried to learn, and what he hopes to improve as he gets more reps throughout the season, is timing during the game. There is a finite number of seconds to talk between plays. What the average fan needs to understand is different than what a quarterback trying to win every down needs to know.

To use quarterbacking jargon, Brady has worked to make rapid progress while showing personality. He has learned the mechanics and focused on making one point instead of several at once.

He’s spoken to many, and while he clearly agreed to join Fox because of the unprecedented offer, the rookie seems to be going all in. He’s calling his new partners at random times to talk for an hour about how he can improve, and then opens up to real-time coaching during practices. The sources with knowledge of Brady’s workouts seem to believe he’s ready to show his passion for the game in a way that hasn’t been fully seen before.

“He’s like a little kid,” one of the sources said. “He’s so excited. He loves the game of football.”