Tom Brady will be calling Super Bowl LIX as he concludes his first season as the lead analyst for FOX Sports coverage of the NFL. Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion during his career with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, signed a reported 10-year, $375 million with FOX to join the broadcasts and has been the subject of scrutiny and criticism throughout his rookie campaign behind the microphone. For the Super Bowl broadcast, which follows the year after CBS Sports attained an all-time viewership record for the contest, he will be joined by play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt and reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi. The team has had a busy week involving attending meetings, watching team practices and conducting interviews ahead of kickoff.
Andrews is also the founder of Wear by Erin Andrews, a sportswear collection that creates officially licensed gear for sports teams available for consumers to purchase. The line opened a pop-up store in New Orleans, which is where Sports Illustrated host Claudette Montana asked Andrews what it has been like to work with Brady. Prior to having Brady as her colleague, she had interviewed him in the past and considered him to be a good friend.
“I think one of the coolest things about being with him is that he’s the G.OA.T., right?,” Andrews said. “He knows everything that happens on the field, but this has been a big learning experience for him with our crew, and it’s cool to see it through his eyes, and it’s kind of crazy to sit there and we’re in production meetings, and he tells us stories and he tells it from his perspective, and all of us try to help him. And we’ll say, ‘You should say that on air. That’s a really good thing to say,’ and he’ll be like, ‘Thanks!,’ and you’re like, ‘I’m helping the G.O.A.T.’ It’s a cool pinch-me moment.”
Throughout the week, Andrews is trying to maintain her focus on preparing for the game while also recognizing the pomp and circumstance of the Super Bowl. There are many distractions taking place around New Orleans, events that risk deviating her standard process to ensure she is ready for the broadcast. Throughout the week, she has attended practices and also conducted a sit-down interview with Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. Anticipating the busy schedule, Andrews conveyed that she completed some of her preparation work last week.
“It’s sprinkled in,” Andrews said. “While the girls are putting my extensions in and my eyelashes on, I’m sitting there reading what Patrick Mahomes said at Media Day [on Monday], so it’s a lot. Once you get here, there’s a lot going on, but you have to remember the game is why we’re here, so you have to make sure you study.”
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