Tom Brady held back criticism in up-and-down $375 million Fox debut

Tom Brady had ups and downs in his highly anticipated Fox Sports announcing debut.

Fox signed Brady to a 10-year deal worth a total of $375 million more than two years ago, and the sports world has been waiting with bated breath to see how he’d perform in the booth.

The game wound up being a dud as the Cowboys won 33-17 in a contest that was effectively over at halftime, so we will have to wait at least a week longer to assess how Brady handles truly big moments.

TV networks covet the aura of former players and coaches who had Hall of Fame careers and won titles.

Fox in particular places an emphasis on this for NFL analysts, with past color commentators including John Madden and Troy Aikman, plus active studio talents Terry Bradshaw, Jimmy Johnson, Howie Long, Rob Gronkowski and Michael Strahan.

Brady brings that in spades as the most accomplished quarterback in NFL history, having won seven Super Bowl championships with the Patriots and Buccaneers.

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When Fox cut to him and play-by-play partner Kevin Burkhardt for the pregame introduction, it immediately felt like a big game.

Brady appeared to be cognizant of letting the game breathe, heeding the advice of Phil Simms, the former top CBS analyst and Giants great, who told The Post last week that nobody has ever complained about an announcer who talks too little.

In key moments, Brady paused to let the viewer hear the crowd reaction at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland before weighing in.

Crucially, he finished his thoughts concisely, passing the proverbial baton back to Burkhardt before it was time to call new plays.

Brady came across as warm — he had a graceful tone, striking a balance between showing enthusiasm for the action on the field while remaining relaxed and at ease.

He had a sense of humor, chiding Browns star pass rusher Myles Garrett for jumping offsides in the second quarter.

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“You don’t need to go that far — you already beat everybody off the line on that little burst move you’ve got,” Brady said with a smirk.

He was at his strongest when he spoke with firsthand experience about the “mental gymnastics” Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer put quarterbacks through, as Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was flummoxed and under duress from a relentless pass rush all game.

One area for big improvement was on display during the many times he paused mid-sentence as he collected his thoughts.

The smoothest broadcasters talk in perfectly formed paragraphs, with pauses immaculately pegged to punctuation marks, like a news anchor reading a script.

Brady seemed to be playing possum in the sense he knows people are waiting for him to be hyper-critical, but he never broke out the sharp knives for any Browns players or coaches as they were getting pummeled.

He could’ve been a lot harder on Watson, whom the Browns paid $230 million, fully guaranteed, after they traded three first-round picks to acquire him from the Texans in 2022.

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If Brady went 24-for-45 for 169 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in a 16-point season-opening loss, you can bet your house he would’ve been awfully hard on himself.

Brady also at times leaned on announcer cliches. On a play when the Browns lost yardage, he remarked that it’s harder to move forward once you’ve gone backward.

Brady entered his broadcasting career with considerable pressure, not only because of his pedigree and record salary, but also because he was replacing Greg Olsen as Fox’s top analyst.

Olsen, who was relegated to the second announcing team, had excelled in the role since replacing Troy Aikman in 2022.

While many industry observers argue announcers don’t impact TV ratings, Fox was home to the crew — Madden and Pat Summerall — that has been cited over the years as the exception, with fans sticking around to hear them even in blowouts.

The network is hoping Brady, with his pedigree and high Q-Score among casual viewers, can give them a marginal boost in games like Sunday’s squash match.

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