Although Tom Brady started 48 playoff games in his illustrious career on the gridiron, he had never been behind the microphone in the broadcast booth for one of these contests until Sunday afternoon. As the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round, Brady worked alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt and sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi, forming the lead FOX Sports NFL broadcasting crew that is expected to call Super Bowl LIX in early February. Throughout the season, Brady has had his performances scrutinized by sports media professionals and viewers as he works under the first season within a reported 10-year, $375 million contract.
Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo explained that he listened to a lot of the broadcast on Sunday and admitted that Brady did not have a lot to work with. The 22-10 victory for the Eagles did not take place in a great game that was predicated on offensive prowess. Russo conveyed that the hard work and proficiency Brady puts forth towards these games was obvious and that he knew everything about what was going on ranging from play calls and defenses. While this was a positive aspect of Brady’s performance, Russo did offer some criticism towards the first-year broadcast analyst.
“The issue that I’d have with Brady and all analysts is that they want to tell you too much,” Russo said on Monday’s edition of Mad Dog Unleashed on SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio. “Tom, like everybody else, wants to analyze every play, every minutiae of every play, and sometimes simple is the way to go instead of being over-analytical. Sometimes just [talking] less helps, and no announcer does it, and Tom doesn’t do it either.”
Russo explained that Brady analyzes every play and puts in maximum effort with his explanations. Furthermore, he felt that despite Brady ostensibly knowing everything possible about football, there were times when he simply knew too much. Russo articulated that the audience does not need to be inundated with significant details and implored the seven-time Super Bowl champion to let the game breathe at times.
“Less is more, and I think most announcers in football have never learned that lesson,” Russo said. “They think they’re paid by the word. I’ve said this forever – we all know this. Sometimes, just laying back, saying something simple in three words is better than butting in and saying something in six sentences. We don’t need the minutiae. We’re all watching the game, we all watch plenty of football.”
There are times when Russo is watching where he does not want to know that much information about what is taking place, emphasizing that there could be paralysis of analysis in certain instances. Moreover, he did not distinguish there to be a need to view eight hours of film to identify why the Packers lost to the Eagles.
“It’s not that complicated,” Russo said. “So many analysts try to make it so complicated – it drives you crazy at times – and I praised Brady for how much he’s worked because he’s worked his rear end off, you can tell.”
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