CANNED OR CANDOR?
Will Brady tell it like it is or sell it for the league in Fox broadcast booth?
Fox got the GOAT. Someday, Tom Brady will retire to spend more time with his greatgrandchildren.
Until then, expect to see him on your TV each NFL Sunday for the next 50 years or so. Brady will join Fox Sports as part of their lead NFL announcing team alongside play-by-play guy Kevin Burkhardt.
No one knows when that will happen. Brady confirmed that he’ll be joining the Fox NFL den but added that he has “unfinished business” as a player. Seven rings are never enough. Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch was gracious enough to note that there is no time limit on when Brady must move into the booth. And the New York Post says he’ll be paid $40 million a year.
Brady could be on his way to being the firstever QB/Coach/Owner/ GM/Team President/Announcer. All he needs is a helmet cam and 7-second delay for the unrelenting stream of expletives we never get to hear when his teammates fail to do their jobs.
Brady spent all of 40 days wandering in the desert of NFL retirement this off-season before opting to return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He needed more time to spend with his family, until he realized that he’d have to spend more time with his family. And his family realized they would have to spend more time with him.
It does appear this will be Brady’s final season as a QB in Tampa Bay.
Brady and the Buccaneers were bounced in the NFL Divisional round this past season by the Super Bowl champion Rams. Brady trailed 27-3 before he led a furious comeback to tie the game, only to see his team’s defense blow it in the final minute. Brady turns 45 in August yet led the NFL with a career-high 5,316 passing yards and 43 TDs last season.
Brady is also the alltime NFL leader in passing TDs (624), passing yards (84,520), and passive-aggressiveness. His in-game trash talk rivals that of Larry Bird and Michael Jordan. Yet, when he is at the podium or speaking to the dutiful members of NFL State Run Media, he chooses each word with all the care and deliberation of the late, great Julia Child preparing Coq Au Vin.
Brady has long told us to “love the haters.” That attitude makes for a terrible sports analyst.
What sort of announcer Brady can be depends on whether he is capable of changing his public persona when it comes to talking about other players and coaches.
Brady’s post-game public criticism has long been limited to himself — unless you happened to be schooled in Brady cryptology and body language.
Brady should emulate Hall of Fame pitcher turned announcer Dennis Eckersley. Eck throws heat from the NESN booth during Red Sox games. He is relentless and speaks without fear or favor while eviscerating the woeful Red Sox.
Imagine a repertoire that has Mac Jones throwing cheese, salad, and/or moss.
Brady joins an elite list of NFL QBs turned TV types that includes Terry Bradshaw, Drew Brees, Tony Romo, Troy Aikman, and both Eli and Peyton Manning. The Manning brothers have revolutionized in-game TV analysis with their “Manningcasts” on ESPN.
Landing Brady delivers a knockout in the hype department for Fox, even if he may not start calling games for Fox until Deuce Tatum wins his first NBA title.
Brady will also work as a Fox “ambassador” and focus on “client and promotional initiatives.”
Give Brady a bow tie and team him with Tucker Carlson for a breakdown of how World War III will impact home-field advantage in the playoffs.
The presence of Brady in front of millions of TV viewers via Fox each week once/if/when he retires means the non-stop infomercial for all that is TB12 will continue ad-infinitum. The gig is easy given the number of producers, researchers, and other assistant types whose sole profession is to make the onair talent look and sound as good as possible.
Brady needs no help with the former.
But can Brady offer millions of viewers a slice of what he’s really thinking? Or will every bit of analysis simply be “fill-in-theblank” is doing his best?
Just ponder how much fun it would be to have Brady unleashed calling a Patriots game?
“(Expletive) Johnny Foxboro gets the last word. Sunday on Fox!”
That would be mustsee TV.