Fox Sports is spending $375 million to get Tom Brady into 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 analyst on Sunday during Fox’s broadcast of the regular season opener between the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns. But first came a Brady hype video leading into the pregame show, in which the studio team admitted they couldn’t help but “fanboy” about their new colleague.
“You’re a broadcaster, how about that!” said play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt as the camera panned to the Cleveland booth where Brady, in jacket and tie, first appeared on screen.
‘We are here. It’s been quite a journey, but I love being your partner,” the ex-quarterback responded.
Brady played 23 years in the NFL before retiring after the 2022 season. He signed a 10-year contract with Fox Sports to become the network’s top football analyst, but resigned last year — a rift that only heightened expectations about whether the most decorated quarterback in football history will bring some of those skills to could convey the position.
A few minutes before kickoff, Brady was featured in a commercial that showed Brady in his various football uniforms talking to himself and wondering why he didn’t just take the estimated $450 million he made in his NFL career and “lie on a beach and got fat on pina coladas’. .”
“What they’re actually asking is: why don’t you quit football?” They don’t understand that you live and breathe football. Because you’re Tom, crazy Brady,” says a series of helmeted Bradys. “And our football journey isn’t even close to being done yet.”
“Back to work,” says current Brady.
With five Super Bowl MVP awards in his seven game victories – six for New England and one for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Brady established himself as the greatest player in NFL history. He retired the career records for wins and playoff wins, passing touchdowns and playoff passing touchdowns, and passing yards and playoff passing yards, among other bests.
And while he couldn’t completely avoid controversy in his career — most notably during the two-year Deflategate odyssey that led to a four-game suspension for cheating — Brady rarely made news with what he said. During the first part of Sunday’s game, Brady’s commentary was knowledgeable but lacked the personality that has made stars of broadcasters like John Madden or, more recently, Tony Romo and Peyton Manning.
(Of course, Brady, a sixth-round draft pick who spent his first NFL season as the No. 4 quarterback on the Patriots roster, nailed the quarterbacking thing.)
Brady’s new career has already suffered a setback, as his simultaneous attempt to buy a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders means he won’t have the access to team facilities, players and coaches that other broadcasters receive. He must also abide by the league’s constitution and bylaws, which prohibit public criticism of officials and other clubs, but he can broadcast Raiders games.
The highly anticipated debut stole some of the attention from the matchup between the defending NFC East champion Cowboys, who signed quarterback Dak Prescott to a record four-year, $240 million contract earlier Sunday, and the Browns.
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