Tom Brady the broadcaster: All eyes on Fox's new No. 1 analyst
From left, Tom Rinaldi, Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady and Erin Andrews from Fox's No. 1 NFL broadcasting team. (Credit / Fox Sports) Credit: Fox Sports
Tom Brady sneaked up on the NFL as a player, a sixth-round draft pick who filled in for the injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001 and wound up winning a Super Bowl, then six more.
He will not have the luxury of anonymity in his new job.
When he serves as Fox’s analyst for Sunday’s Cowboys-Browns game alongside play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt, Brady will face intense scrutiny from the start.
Will he be an immediate hit, as Tony Romo was for CBS in 2017?
Or not, as in Joe Montana’s spectacular flop as an NBC studio analyst in 1995 or Drew Brees lasting only one season at NBC in 2021?
The smart money throughout broadcasting is that Brady will do just fine. He had better, with a 10-year contract worth $375 million, according to the New York Post.
Not to mention the fact that Fox will be carrying Super Bowl LIX in February, and that to make room for Brady, the network had to demote the popular Greg Olsen.
Brady’s presence in the Fox booth initially will come with an unusual wrinkle. Because his bid for partial ownership of the Raiders currently is hung up in the league approval process, he will not be allowed common courtesies for national announcers, such as being permitted to watch other teams’ practices or be part of production meetings in which coaches and players are interviewed during the week by TV crews.
It is a lot for a rookie broadcaster, but digesting challenges and succeeding is what Brady does.
Brady took a year off after retiring as a player to recharge. Now he is ready to roll, and he's been saying all the right things as the new guy.
He told Sports Illustrated in June that his biggest challenge will be keeping things light and entertaining.
“Sometimes I get a little too serious because I see myself as ‘quarterback Tom Brady’ as opposed to ‘let’s enjoy a great game of football Tom Brady,’ ” he said.
“Sometimes I become a little too critical. So I’m trying to make sure I have the right tone.”
Romo told Newsday that he and Brady have “talked a bunch” about the job.
“To have his football knowledge, I think it’s going to be a great thing for football,” Romo said. “I think he’s excited to get going, and I’m excited to see him.”
CBS analyst Trent Green said he simply would advise Brady to be himself and find what works best for him.
He said the biggest challenge likely will be getting used to having more than one conversation at the same time — with Burkhardt and with the production truck.
Said another quarterback-turned-analyst, Matt Ryan, “I don’t think Tom needs advice from me . . . He’ll be himself and it’ll be interesting to see.”
Added CBS’ Bill Cowher, “He’ll be great.”
'Big shoes to fill' at CBS' 'The NFL Today'
While the biggest news in a game booth this NFL season is Brady, the biggest studio news is a makeover for CBS’ “The NFL Today.”
The long-running pregame show let go of Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason, added Ryan and expanded the role of J.J. Watt.
Esiason’s 22 years on the show are the most in its history.
“Big shoes to fill,” Ryan told Newsday. “Two guys I have so much respect for, not only as commentators but as players, too . . . I’m not trying to be Phil or trying to be Boomer or any of those things. Just trying to be myself.”
CBS’ NFL Sunday pregame show. Credit: CBS/Karolina Wojtasik
“The NFL Today” has been around in its modern form for since 1975.
“You talk about legends of the game who have sat at that desk, I think for all of us it’s really special,” Ryan said. “It’s a legendary show, and to have a seat on it is not something I take lightly.”
Watt said Esiason and Simms were key to making him feel comfortable as a TV rookie last year but added that the new cast is aiming for “a little bit of a new vibe.”
James Brown and Nate Burleson also are returning with Cowher, an 18-year veteran of the show. The former Steelers coach said it will be weird not having his two longtime partners around, but added, “I think we have kind of a new group, new chemistry to form. We all respect each other, like each other and like talking football.”
Christmas cheer
The NBA used to own Christmas Day in sports television. Then the NFL saw what kind of ratings it could draw on the holiday and moved into the neighborhood.
This season, that will mean two strange developments: an NFL doubleheader on a Wednesday, and having it shown on Netflix (produced by CBS).
Kansas City will face Pittsburgh at 1 p.m., followed by Baltimore-Houston, an attractive double-feature to kick off a three-year deal with the streaming service.
All four of those teams will play on Saturday, Dec. 21, to give them the same gap between games as a typical Sunday-Thursday turnaround.
The Netflix games are part of a continuing march to streaming. When Philadelphia and Green Bay meet in Brazil on Friday, Peacock will have exclusive national rights.
Jets radio booth's new look
Marty Lyons speaks as he is inducted into the New York Jets' Ring of Honor during a halftime ceremony on Oct. 13, 2013. Credit: AP
The biggest news in local NFL media this season is the departure of Marty Lyons from the Jets’ radio booth.
Lyons and Bob Wischusen had been together since 2002. The Giants have teamed Bob Papa and Carl Banks since 2007, so this sort of change is rare.
Anthony Becht, a former Jets tight end, will succeed Lyons.
“I’ve been in this organization for a long time,” Becht, a first-round draft pick in 2000, told Newsday. “When you talk about family and just people that had my back all the way through, and to do this now, I’m excited.”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.