NEW ORLEANS – The phrase Tom Brady repeated to describe his first season as FOX’s No. 1 game analyst: learning curve.
“I understand I’m a long ways from being a finished product as a broadcaster,” the seven-time Super Bowl champion said during a conference call with reporters Wednesday, four days before he calls Super Bowl 59 between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs alongside Kevin Burkhardt.
Brady called Year 1 in the booth “a very positive challenge.”
“Because I think part of the experience of life is challenging yourself and getting outside your comfort zone to experience new things where it can be more of a transformational experience for you,” he said.
FOX announced Brady’s hiring as the No. 1 game analyst in March of 2022. But Brady – who makes $37.5 million annually over the 10-year agreement – returned for a final season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and spent the 2023 season out of the booth during a quasi-gap year.
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“I know I got another at least nine years to go,” Brady said, reiterating his commitment to the job, “and hopefully more.”
Evaluating himself in a new job is something Brady’s had to learn to do.
“There’s no scoreboard for us, other than, genuinely, did we approach the game the right way? Were we prepared?” Brady said. “And then ultimately two things: was I confident in what I said? And did I really enjoy myself? I think if those last two points are a ‘yes,’ then I think we did a good job.”
Burkhardt gave his partner credit for taking on a role he certainly could have avoided.
“I think there’s a reason people don’t dive into this end of the pool,” Burkhardt said. “It’s hard.”
Burkhardt said he cherishes the relationships in the job he has. Forming a friendship with Brady has been worthwhile.
“I’m a big believer in – you don’t have to be best friends with everyone you work with in this industry … Tom and I have built a really great friendship because we’ve spent so much time together,” Burkhardt said.
Brady has let Burkhardt in, and the play-by-play man said his broadcasting partner is a “great dude who loves football.”
“That’s been the coolest part: finding out who he really is,” Burkhardt said.
The first live game Burkhardt and Brady called together was a United Football League contest at Ford Field about eight months ago. To Brady, however, it felt like it was 10 years ago because of the learning curve he’s endured since.
“It’s just been an awesome journey for me,” Brady said, “being with the best teammates in the world. To showcase this great game and to offer really unique insight is kind of a dream come true for me. So I’m very excited for what’s ahead.”
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Friends will give him briefings occasionally on the reaction from social media or other corners of the sports-media universe. But Brady’s main goal is to serve the fans at home.
“You’re never going to please everybody,” Brady said.
Brady admitted to making mistakes – “I’ve made plenty,” he said – but that, like when he was a player, learning from them was key.
“You just have to give it your best and you have to believe in yourself and have confidence with what you’re saying,” Brady said. “I love the ability to take the viewers inside of the way I see things.”
Using one’s voice on live television induces an adrenaline rush, Brady said. Mispronunciations or forgetting a stat will happen.
“I want to get it right the next time,” he said, adding: “You just have to give it your best and you have to believe in yourself and have confidence with what you’re saying. I love the ability to take the viewers inside of the way I see things.”
There is a complexity of football he wants to simplify for viewers concisely, and that is his ultimate goal. Brady noted “long-form” mediums, such as his radio show, that allow him to expand. On television, he knows the need to “make them more like soundbites.”
Brady said he doesn’t want to be overly critical because it’s not fun for the viewer.
“You’re never insulting the player,” Brady said. “You’re insulting the play or the decision.
“You just have to always tread lightly a little bit in terms of ‘What really was going on?’”
How Raiders ownership role impacted Brady’s broadcasting
On Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell revealed Brady kept in touch with the league office throughout the season to ensure he was copacetic with the guardrails in place to prevent conflict of interest between his minority ownership stake in the Las Vegas Raiders and his broadcasting job.
The main parameter was Brady not being allowed in production meetings, although the Chiefs granted him access for Super Bowl week.
What Brady misses most about being in production meetings is the relationships that get built up over time – both with the subjects he covers and the time spent with his FOX teammates. He listens to news conferences all week and gains perspective from publicly available media sessions.
“In terms of my research I don’t think it has much effect at all,” Brady said.
Brady described his ownership with the Raiders as “a long-term, kind of behind-the-scenes type of role.” The responsibilities between the two jobs are “very different,” Brady said. He is fully committed to broadcasting when he’s on the clock, “trying to be the best I can be for FOX Sports.”
“This approach as a broadcaster has been all-encompassing this year,” Brady said. “And the reality is, Mark Davis is the owner of the Raiders and I play a supportive, complementary role to the vision that he sets.
“I love football so much and the fact I get to be in it for the rest of my life … not just as a broadcaster, which is obviously one way, but in a limited partner role with an organization, it’s something I hope a lot of other players get the opportunity to do.”