Tom Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback formerly of the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will be making his NFL on FOX broadcasting debut as the lead color commentator for the property this upcoming season. Brady is slated to join play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt and sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi as part of the lead broadcasting booth, which will call Super Bowl LIX from the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La. at the conclusion of the season. The new member of the FOX Sports team was introduced in person at the FOX Upfront earlier in the month in New York City, during which he articulated his excitement about becoming a game analyst.
Over Memorial Day Weekend, Brady posted a video of himself jet skiing and participating in a variety of water sports. During an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports Radio Monday afternoon, host Colin Cowherd divulged that Brady was granted with many gifts, including work ethic, sagaciousness and a competitive spirit. Cowherd then thought to himself that Brayd could not possibly be competitive jet skiing, leading him to ponder if broadcasting would satiate that trait. This led him to ask Brady if he is already watching tapes and leaning into a competitive attitude in preparing for this new endeavor surrounding the game of football.
“There are definitely parts of me that are hypercompetitive, and certainly they were as a player and as an athlete,” Brady said. “I love that competition; I relished that competition daily.”
Brady recollected that he was competitive in several activities during his football career outside of the actual game itself, including practice, ping pong or trashketball in the locker room. Yet over the years, he feels that he has matured and is able to exercise restraint by being selective in what ventures in which he competes.
“I think if I want to put effort into something, then naturally I’ll be more competitive at it because I’ll have invested a little bit of my time, a little bit of my energy into it,” Brady said. “Certainly, with the [broadcasting], I don’t think for me it’s about competition. I think for me it’s about, ‘Did I put everything I could into it?’ in that, ‘Did I give the fans everything that they tuned in for?,’ and that’s really how I’ll end up gauging myself.”
After Sunday games, Brady prognosticates that he will end up evaluating himself to see if he did well in the booth and actualized the belief instilled in him by FOX. Moreover, he wants to ensure that he is meeting the expectations of his colleagues as he aims to acclimatize himself into working in sports media and becoming a familiar voice to inform and entertain the viewing audience.
Brady is beginning the first season in a reported 10-year, $375 million contract to serve in the lead analyst role for FOX Sports, which will coincide with the expiration of the network’s media rights deal with the National Football League. If the current conditions are sustained, Brady will be on the call for three of the next 10 Super Bowl broadcasts.
“‘Did I live up to the expectations of my teammates – Kevin Burkhardt and Erin [Andrews] and Tom [Rinaldi] and Richie Zyontz and Rich Russo and our entire truck and entire team?,’” Brady hypothesized thinking after games. “That’s ultimately how I’ll judge myself in that new role.”
