Tom Brady has won seven Super Bowls, and five Super Bowl MVP Awards. There is no other NFL player alive who has as much experience in the Big Game as Brady.
But this Sunday Brady will tread new territory, calling Super Bowl LIX from New Orleans from the Fox broadcast booth, capping off his first year as the network’s lead NFL analyst. It’s the biggest TV show in the world, and the biggest challenge yet for the rookie TV talent.
Brady made his Fox debut last summer during a UFL game, kicking off his debut season on-air. “It feels like it was about 10 years ago, because there’s been such a learning curve,” says Brady, speaking to reporters Wednesday morning.
“I understand I’m a long ways from being a finished product as a broadcaster, but I really enjoy the opportunity and and I am very grateful to all the people that I work with every week,” he adds.
The former New England Patriot and Tampa Bay Buccaneer says that since starting at Fox he has received advice and guidance from a slew of peers, naming Tony Romo, Cris Collinsworth, Troy Aikman, Greg Olson, Al Michaels, Dick Stockton, Jim Gray and Jim Nance, among others.
“Cris Collinsworth sent me one this morning, and it was the nicest message you could have ever imagined,” Brady said. “People watch the game and listen and send me messages, ‘hey, this is what I think you can do a better job of.’ These are people that are in the industry I had looked up to and respected.”
Brady says that he is aware of the critiques of his broadcasting, both the good-faith suggestions and the social media haters, but says that he is not focused on what others are saying about his work.
“You hear different things on social media and such, and I have friends that will kind of give me little briefings about how it was,” he says. “Because all I’m trying to do is deliver for the fans, and they’re the ones that we’re trying to serve. I’m trying to elevate the game the best I can, by doing things the right way. And I’m just used to using my body to do it, and now I’ve got to use and articulate through my words to do it. So I’d just like to continue to try to get better at it, knowing, naturally, you’re never going to please everybody, and that’s just the way it works.”
Being a TV broadcaster is about reacting in real time, helping to guide viewers. Brady notes that as well as he knows the game, getting his reps in when it comes to explaining the game is still his biggest priority.
“I think part of the experience of life is challenging yourself and getting outside of your comfort zone to experience new things, where it can be more of a transformational experience for you,” he says. “To use your voice and your vision for a television audience, there’s a lot of adrenaline, and it was very different from when I played, where I would see probably see all these things, I just didn’t have to verbalize them, and I knew subconsciously what to do, and my body just took over, because ultimately, that’s how I trained it.”
“I think there’s a real reality to having 10,000 hours on a job, that the more you do it, the better you’re going to get at it,” he adds.
So how will he measure success, come Monday morning?
“There’s no scoreboard for us, other than kind of how we feel? Did we approach the game the right way? Were we prepared?” Brady says. “And then ultimately, it’s two things: Was I very confident in what I said? And did I really enjoy myself? I think if those last two points are yes, then in the end, we did a good job. All you can do is get out there and and do your very best.”
