Future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady earned mostly mixed reviews for his broadcast debut as the color analyst in Fox’s booth during Sunday’s win by the Cowboys over the Cleveland Browns.
Cowboys fans, it seems, should get used to hearing TB12’s voice.
Brady and the crew that also included play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt and sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi has been assigned to the Cowboys’ next two games as well. That puts Brady at AT&T Stadium this coming Sunday for the team’s home opener versus the New Orleans Saints and again the following Sunday for a Week 3 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens.
Tom Brady and Kevin Burkhardt will be on the call for the Cowboys-Saints game. And they will be back again in Week 3 when the Cowboys take on the Ravens.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) September 10, 2024
For all of his accolades and prowess on the football field for 20 seasons, though, the 47-year-old Brady turned in a Week 1 performance that was occasionally awkward, often clumsy, and very much in keeping with his once-again status as a football rookie.
But despite the cringey moments- like the Fox talking heads taking turns gushing over their new coworker or Mike Pereira leaving Brady hanging on an on-camera fist bump, there were occasional insights that show what the five-time Super Bowl MVP can bring in terms of perspective.
Mike Pereira and Tom Brady's first booth interaction could have gone a little smoother… pic.twitter.com/RmJYFF1qQj
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 8, 2024
While everyone- the Cowboys’ own coaching staff included- was breathlessly glued to the drama of Dallas kicker Brandon Aubrey teeing off on a 66-yard field goal try, the quarterback who notched over 250 career wins was dutifully eyeing the play clock.
“Delay of game,” Brady muttered as it went to zero just before the snap.
He didn’t add much in the way of excitement or personality, but the fact that the Cowboys were up by as much as 24 points just a few minutes into the third quarter didn’t exactly help transform the contest into must-see TV.
But make no mistake: Brady isn’t going anywhere. The network is paying him $375 million over the next 10 years, and with Fox owning the rights to Super Bowl LIX, they’ll want to get him settled into a groove as quickly as possible.
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Putting him on America’s Team for three weeks in a row, then- while it may annoy some within Cowboys Nation- is a very shrewd move. Primarily, it cuts Brady’s homework load in half as he continues to get comfortable in the booth. He already spent the offseason months researching the Cowboys for his Week 1 debut; now he can focus on just their opponents over Weeks 2 and 3.
Additionally, three weeks spent with the ratings-monster Cowboys will no doubt pay dividends as the season goes on, with Brady and Dallas almost certain to cross paths once again. And if Dallas makes the playoffs- and maybe even the Super Bowl- all the better for Fox to have their broadcast team and their brand-new golden boy be intimately familiar with the team.
That familiarity, however, will have to come solely from what Brady observes from his lofty vantage point on gameday. Thanks to his pending ownership stake in the Raiders, the NFL has prohibited Brady from entering any team facilities, watching team practice sessions, and even participating in standard TV production meetings with coaches and players.
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