Ever since Fox announced that Tom Brady would be entering their commentary box, the NFL world has waited in anticipation for the GOAT’s debut. While many expected TB12 to start his broadcasting duties last year, the legendary QB surprised everyone by taking a break year. Soon, many theories floated on the internet, predicting the reason behind his sabbatical. Luckily for us, we finally know the reason why.
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Appearing in an interview with Sports Illustrated, Brady finally revealed why he took a year-long break before jumping into broadcasting. For Tom, taking a break made a lot of sense, as he wanted to understand the intricacies of broadcasting before following in the footsteps of other legendary commentators before him.
This is why Brady took the year’s time to connect with and learn from his idols in broadcasting to develop his skills on the mic. “I mean for me, it was the only way to do it,” he said.
“I realized that to come off a playing season and then to jump right into that, it’s a whole another discipline to learn and I really wanted to take some time to watch, listen, learn, and talk to people who I really see as the greatest at what they’ve done,” Brady continued.
It’s truly heartening to see Tom making such efforts to learn the art of broadcasting rather than simply appearing in front of the mic unprepared. One of the biggest concerns about Tom entering this realm in people’s minds was how seriously he would take this art form.
From the outside, analyzing and broadcasting games for a former player sounds easy on paper; however, Brady himself realized in his preparation that things aren’t as straightforward as they may seem. The GOAT admitted in the interview that he has been struggling in a few pivotal areas in his broadcasting preparation so far.
“A Little Too Critical”: Tom Brady Outlines the Chinks in His Armor
During the same interview, Brady candidly admitted that he is not worried about the analysis part of his broadcasting. Considering that he has been doing it for over two decades, it wasn’t very surprising.
But where the QB is struggling is to maintain the tonality of his commentary. Brady boldly shared that he has noticed his tendency to get a bit too critical when analyzing the game as he judges the players from his quarterback Tom Brady lens.
Therefore, the former QB fears that his overly critical tone might hamper the viewing experience, which is why he is working on finding the right balance of criticism and entertainment.
“I think the important part for me will be how do I just continue to make it fun for people to enjoy the viewing experience. Sometimes I get a little too serious because I see myself as Quarterback Tom Brady as opposed to let’s enjoy a great game of football Tom Brady. Sometimes I become maybe a little too critical, so l’m trying to make sure that I have the right tone,” Brady disclosed.
It must be music to Fox’s ears after seeing the QB work on his skills with the same intensity as he did for football. At the same time, they did splurge on him with about $375 million. This also bodes well for the fans who have been clamoring to hear Brady on their TV sets for more than a year. September 8th can’t come soon enough!
