Rob Gronkowski offers honest review of Tom Brady's announcing debut

Retired tight end and current Fox personality Rob Gronkowski insisted as recently as last week that Tom Brady, Gronkowski's quarterback during stints with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, would "be excellent" serving as the network's new lead in-game analyst.

During a midweek appearance on the "Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams," Gronkowski spoke about Brady's call of this past Sunday's game between the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns that received mixed reviews.

"It was definitely a rookie debut," Gronkowski acknowledged, as shared by Stephen Douglas of Sports Illustrated. "[Brady] was like a quarterback that was picked No. 1 overall. All the hype in the world. And he came through. He did come through, but he had a lot of jitters, that's for sure. Not a lot, but he had some jitters."

Others mentioned earlier this week that Brady "came across as nervous" but eventually settled in while calling what proved to be a blowout 33-17 Dallas victory. Of course, many viewers expected the seven-time Super Bowl champion would be much more than just a "game manager" of a broadcaster working alongside top play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt considering Brady and Fox agreed to a 10-year contract reportedly worth $375M back in 2022.

"I would say the Tom Brady that people are looking for is him in the meeting room with his teammates explaining defenses," Gronkowski added about reviews of Brady's debut. "Explaining the techniques that you need. Explain the strengths and weaknesses of the opponents."

Broadcasting legend Al Michaels praised Brady this week for how the future Hall of Famer described why quarterbacks such as Cleveland's Deshaun Watson struggle against defenses coached by Cowboys coordinator Mike Zimmer. Gronkowski suggested viewers want similar breakdowns from Brady rather than for the 47-year-old to sound like a fan "on the couch with a beer just chopping it up with his buddies."

In the end, Brady performing like a work in progress at Cleveland's Huntington Bank Field could prove to be a blessing in disguise as it pertains to how he'll be graded moving forward. He'll look to build additional chemistry with Burkhardt when the two call this Sunday's game between the Cowboys and New Orleans Saints held at Dallas' AT&T Stadium.