After watching the Patriots’ upset win over the Bengals on CBS, many New England fans probably flipped over to Fox at 4:25 p.m. to catch Tom Brady’s debut as the network’s new $375 million lead color commentator.
If those fans were hoping to be regaled with stories from the GOAT’s incomparable career, they were probably disappointed. If they were simply hoping for good analysis of the Cowboys’ 33-17 beatdown of the Browns, there was plenty of that, but with some hiccups along the way.
Brady did not talk about himself, even when prompted to do so at times. He did not mention the Patriots or Bill Belichick by name, although he did finally reference Belichick during one of his best moments of the day in the fourth quarter when he defended “hard coaching” as something more NFL players need.
There was nothing about former teammate Jerod Mayo’s first win as head coach. Brady did briefly talk about another former teammate, Julian Edelman, but that was only because a Tostitos ad featuring Brady and Edelman was playing in a split screen late in the second quarter.
When Charissa Thompson said, “Tom will like this,” before Fox showed a highlight of former Tampa Bay teammate Mike Evans catching a touchdown, Brady awkwardly no-sold the moment and added nothing. He finally praised Evans and fellow Buccaneers receiver Chris Godwin later in the game when Godwin also popped up in a touchdown highlight.
Sunday afternoon may have been about Brady for a lot of fans tuning in, but it was not about Brady in Brady’s mind. His job was to analyze the Cowboys and Browns, and he mostly did that well.
Brady was at his best not when analyzing the quarterbacks, but rather the two superstar defenders in the game – Dallas’ Micah Parsons and Cleveland’s Myles Garrett, the latter of whom is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.
Brady was excellent at highlighting the way both defenders moved around to keep the offense guessing, especially before big plays. Early in the game, he pointed out Parsons lining up over fill-in right tackle Dawand Jones right before Jones false-started in an attempt to get a step on the two-time All-Pro. He also highlighted Parsons right before he tipped a pass for a Dallas interception, and correctly predicted the Browns were about to chip Parsons with a tight end right before a Parsons sack.
On the latter play, play-by-play partner Kevin Burkhardt incorrectly said the Browns didn’t get a chip on Parsons. Brady smoothly corrected him without being mean about it: “Got a chip and beat it!,” he exclaimed, raising his voice in excitement.
At other times, Brady’s analysis left something to be desired. There were several awkward silences as Burkhardt seemingly waited for Brady to jump in and say something, only for him to either remain quiet or belatedly start talking. There were times when it felt like he was simply describing the replay rather than telling viewers something they should be looking for before the replay.
One of those awkward silences came after one of the game’s most exciting plays, a 60-yard punt return touchdown by Dallas’ KaVontae Turpin early in the third quarter that pushed the Cowboys’ lead to 27-3 and all but ended the game.
Brady was seemingly caught off-guard, pausing too long before calling Turpin a “dangerous returner” and then stumbling through something about being able to take advantage of special-teams opportunities early in the season.
“You see that early in the season, get some opportunities on special teams, and…” Brady trailed off, not finishing the sentence before Burkhardt carried them into a commercial break. It was one of several instances of Brady not quite rising to the moment like he did on that Parsons sack highlighted above.
Even NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson called out Brady for not getting more excited about a potential 71-yard field goal attempt.
Brady also made a habit of yelling “Wow!” or “Oh!” over Burkhardt’s call on big plays, including Turpin’s punt return touchdown, a highlight-reel catch by Dallas star receiver CeeDee Lamb, and Brandin Cooks’ early touchdown for the Cowboys. Your mileage may vary on that. I found it a bit annoying personally, but I also heard from people on X/Twitter who liked hearing him react like a fan at home.
Brady’s broadcast debut came amid news that his bid to own 10% of the Las Vegas Raiders is finally on its way to approval . Brady’s access to other teams is being limited because of it . He cannot attend broadcast production meetings or get access to other team’s facilities, coaches or players, and he cannot criticize refs or other clubs.
Whether the average fan will notice the effect of those limitations during Brady’s broadcasts remains to be seen, but it was notable that Brady lacked the kinds of behind-the-scenes anecdotes you often hear from color analysts who are able to collect exclusive insights during those production meetings.
And whether it was because of those limitations or because he’s just not comfortable ripping a fellow quarterback, it was also notable that Brady’s criticism of Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson remained muted all day despite a truly dreadful performance (24-of-45, 169 yards, two interceptions, 51.1 passer rating) to kick off Year 3 of a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract that only looks worse and worse.
This was Brady’s first real game in the booth. For the most part, he did his job, breaking down the plays and players who carried the Cowboys to a dominant win. He should be able to smooth out the awkward pauses and unfinished sentences as he gets more experience.
Whether we’ll get anything more than strict football analysis – personality, anecdotes, jokes, criticisms – remains to be seen.
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