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    • Tom Brady’s debut as an NFL commentator leaves much to be desired
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    Tom Brady’s debut as an NFL commentator leaves much to be desired

    Idris Bevan Posted on

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    CLEVELAND — Just because Tom Brady had the most successful NFL career of all time doesn’t mean he’ll be the best commentator in his new career. That trait doesn’t exist in football or sports television. But the good news for Brady is that he can mirror his playing career and improve in his role and rise to the top of the craft, even if his first appearance Sunday in the Dallas Cowboys’ 33-17 victory over the Cleveland Browns was a forgettable, inconsistent one.

    The overall broadcast will have to be better when the cameras roll on Brady and his broadcast partner Kevin Burkhardt at the 59th Super Bowl in February. But this was not a disaster for Brady or FOX.

    There have been worse debuts and field-to-stand performances, even recently. Brady is not in the bottom category of Drew Brees, who couldn’t stay with NBC as a studio analyst or co-commentator, and Jason Witten, whose performance as a “Monday Night Football” analyst in 2018 was so bad that he returned to the Cowboys.

    It was pretty clear that the emphasis during Brady’s offseason training with the FOX team and the advice he received from other top broadcasters was to make his points quick and finish them. Brady almost came up short. His first big play was a touchdown pass from Dak Prescott to Brandin Cooks while the quarterback was facing a blitz. FOX had to go back to Brady after the commercial break so he could get deeper into the play, as his first pass had left a little too much dead air.

    I hadn’t thought of Brady’s voice as “high” until Boomer Esiason told me about it last week. Hearing the GOAT talk football at such length left me pretty stunned. But the way he speaks shouldn’t be a big problem in Brady’s efforts to be a broadcaster.

    That he is replacing a popular broadcaster, Greg Olsen, who meshed well with Burkhardt thanks to their shared roots in northern New Jersey, doesn’t help Brady’s argument. Olsen has quickly earned a top spot in the industry as an analyst and should be a shining example for his successor of what to work toward. Burkhardt and Brady sounded good together, underscored by Burkhardt’s joke that he wore more gel in his air because he thought there would be more on-air footage from the booth; Brady responded that he did what he was told and was the new guy.

    Predictably, Brady barely went down despite a dismal performance from Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. He said Prescott was “lucky” he didn’t get caught late in the first quarter. There was a decent analysis of Micah Parsons’ handling of chip blocks, and he politely corrected Burkhardt by declaring, “He got a chip and beat him!” He tried to put us in Prescott’s mind as he dropped back and Myles Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, charged at him.

    Brady is essentially obligated to keep his commentary positive or neutral. Outside of the announcer’s booth, Brady is close to purchasing a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders. Becoming a limited partner in the league comes with restrictions. He is barred from attending FOX’s production sessions because his status with the Raiders prohibits him from entering other teams’ facilities. The league stated that Brady is permitted to commentate on games involving Las Vegas. Brady must abide by the league’s constitution and bylaws, which could “prohibit public criticism of officials and other clubs.” It’s a dilemma that prevents Brady from having the “real conversations” that fans crave and forces him to talk around issues – a difficult task for a veteran commentator, let alone a rookie.

    On Sunday, his initial analysis was more like that of a chair-chair quarterback than that of a GOAT. By the end of the game, he was confident enough to elaborate on why he thinks the quality of the offensive line’s play has declined over the past few seasons.

    The product on the field has done him no favors, to say the least. Some examples:

    • “The fastest way to the top is to move vertically.”
    • “Give the ball to his playmakers.”
    • “Negative games hurt so much.”

    Burkhardt did his best to guide Brady to that second level of analysis, asking the seven-time Super Bowl winner, for example, whether he prefers to play man coverage or zone coverage.

    The timing between the two was mostly spot on, starting early in the game. Brady was pretty good on the beautiful catch from CeeDee Lamb, not stepping on Burkhardt’s call but letting out a “Wow!” On the Cooks touchdown, he did a little Tony Romo imitation with the “Oh!” But that could work in Brady’s favor. He was smart enough not to interfere with Romo’s game prediction range. Some of Brady’s most insightful statements came during the blowout portion of the broadcast, when he explained what made it so difficult to go up against Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer.

    “I played for a coach who wasn’t afraid to call his players names,” Brady said, referring to his media rookie and former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.

    Evoking emotion can be a strength if you ultimately present it correctly. Brady took this job because he loves football – his multiverse commercial that aired on FOX the week of the game also underscored that. The identification factor is something a part owner of an NFL team might struggle with; instead, Brady should channel that passion into his analysis and win over viewers.

    “NFL RedZone” host Scott Hanson joked that Brady needed to show more emotion while the Cowboys were considering allowing kicker Brandon Aubrey a 71-yard field goal attempt after he made one from 66 yards that was negated by a penalty.

    “Oh, come on,” Hanson said. “Brady needs to have more fun in the locker room.”

    (Hanson issued an official, albeit unnecessary, apology on social media on Monday.)

    The greatest currency in sports broadcasting is authenticity. For a long time, the Patriot Way relegated Brady to the role of a talking point reamer with little to offer the public (via the media). Those who assumed that Brady would be a natural in the booth because of the amount of time he spent on camera ignored the reality that answering questions – with the goal of saying nothing – is very different from providing factual analysis. Pausing to consider your words is not only smart, but it is received positively by press conference viewers. In the announcer’s booth, that caution comes across differently.

    Brady’s shell began to crumble during his years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Still, his play was the talk of the town. Now, Tom Brady, a public figure and businessman, must show everyone who he really is, in his 40s, not his 20s – with a microphone in hand and an audience of, say, 20 million people every Sunday afternoon.

    Brady will have 20 games left — maybe less if he opts to take a week off — before the lights turn red for the 59th Super Bowl at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. He’s not ready for the task yet. But consider how many teams make it to the Super Bowl after looking lost in Week 1. FOX expects a similar trend, and Brady will learn enough on the job in the coming months to make sure the big game sounds like one.

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    Idris Bevan
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