Rookies don’t get a honeymoon period in the NFL, and that extends to the broadcast booth, too. How’s newbie Tom Brady doing in the booth? Let’s check in with his Week 2 effort calling the Saints’ blowout of the Dallas Cowboys. Short version: Getting better!
Let’s start with the good news: In the midst of an otherwise routine game-commentary effort, Brady gave us the tiniest look at what he really can bring. Cowboys receiver Jalen Brooks lost his footing on the AT&T Stadium turf when a pass was headed his way, resulting in a Dak Prescott interception. Play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt asked Brady whether he, as a quarterback, would go back to a receiver who’d made such a mistake. The usual cliche would be something like, “Sure, keep throwing at him, keep him in the game,” or whatever. Brady replied without hesitation, “Not today. It’s pretty tough to go back there. … Can’t count on him to stay on his feet.” Now that’s what we want to hear — truth, not airy “we’re-all-just-trying-our-best” platitudes.
Granted, Brady did start a little slow. He raved over new Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, but he did so with lightweight analysis like, “He wants to use all the weapons that he’s got, and he’s got a lot of them out there.” When you’re speaking thousands of words in a broadcast, they won’t all be gems, but the closer you get to true, honest analysis, the easier they flow.
Grade: A-
Color commentators tend to overshadow their play-by-play counterparts. It’s right there in the job title, after all — emotion versus reason, vibes versus facts. It’s been that way since the days of Dandy Don Meredith and Howard Cosell, or John Madden and Pat Summerall. Tony Romo pushes the enthusiasm meter into the red on every series. Pat McAfee — not a color guy but the most notable behind-the-mic guy working today — is the voice of the fan id, a bro unleashed. So when Brady approaches big moments sounding like he’s at an office birthday party — amiable but tight — it’s a throwback, and not in a good way. Burkhardt raised his intensity as New Orleans kept throwing around touchdowns, but Tom only spoke a touch louder. It’s OK to cut loose a bit, Tom!
Grade: B-
Here’s the weakest element of Brady’s Week 2 effort. Brady doesn’t need to fill every silence with verbiage, but he can’t leave dead air all over the broadcast either. Throughout the game, Burkhardt would offer a thought or make a point, and … silence. Whether because of nerves, because he was tentative, or because he was told to speak less, Brady didn’t step up into the proverbial conversational pocket and keep the proverbial chains moving when he should have, meaning this week was a proverbial missed opportunity.
Commentating is a tricky skill to master. You need to be pithy and smart, speaking complete thoughts in seven-second improvisational bursts. It’s not like conversation; it’s more like tennis, where you need to execute a complete action at high speed … and then do it again and again, for three hours. Give it a try, it’s not easy. But then again, you’re not getting paid $2 million a game to “try.”
Grade: C-
Burkhardt has a challenging job — he has to call the game as it unfolds, but he also has to set up Brady for insights and commentary. To Burkhardt’s credit, he rolled out a red carpet, he teed up the ball, he lofted the alley-oop … pick your metaphor, he did it, and Brady, for the most part, took advantage. Brady will get better at picking the moments to offer up sharp insights — we need to hear his takes on QB sneaks every time they happen — but credit Burkhardt for giving Brady the room and the recipe to cook.
Grade: B
Being funny in the booth is a tricky, and often dangerous, prospect. A whole lot of NFL fans don’t want to hear an open-mic night when watching their game. So it’s a tricky balance to strike, between serious film-cruncher and take-my-wife comedian. Give Brady credit, then, for loosening up just a touch — goofing around with Dean Blandino on a fistb ump, and offering a voice-of-the-fan take on a stream of borderline-incomprehensible statistics: “I was a P.E. major, Kevin, I didn’t major in advanced mathematics.” (Swap in “English” for “P.E.” and we’re right there with you, Tom.) Brady doesn’t need to roll in with a rubber chicken or prepared airline-food gags, but as long as he remembers that sports are supposed to be fun, he’ll be fine.
Grade: B-
The supreme irony about sports broadcasting is that you’re supposed to project an aura of calm in an incredibly high-stress environment. You’re supposed to sound relaxed and at ease while an entire nation is grading your every syllable. (Howdy.) With that in mind, Brady is sounding much more relaxed than he did in Week 1, which is a good sign, indeed. Viewers can sense flop sweat through their TV speakers, and the more at ease Brady feels, the more at ease his audience will be with him.
Grade: B+
Brady has improved over Week 1, and he improved over the course of the game. His analysis grew sharper and his commentary more pointed as the game went on. “I don’t know if Dallas has enough power on offense to hang in a high-scoring game,” Brady said late in the game. “That could be a concern when you go against these better teams.” That assessment would garner maybe five likes on X, but for an announcer, it qualifies as a moderately bold statement. Brady’s on the way, but you don’t get graded on your trajectory, you get graded on your performance.
Here’s our grading standard: Does a commentator add or distract from a broadcast? A straight-up C is a commentator who just delivers what you need to hear, nothing more, nothing less. By that standard, John Madden is an A+; Tony Kornheiser and Dennis Miller are Fs. You might not even notice a C-grade commentator; their voice just glides by in the background.
If Tom Brady wasn’t TOM BRADY, he’d right now be a dead-bang C — unspectacular and, for the most part, unmemorable. The call on Brooks gives him a nudge upward; more of that and he’ll get that final grade closer to the A range.
Overall Grade: B-
