Tom Brady Talks About All the Measures He Took That Improved His Broadcasting Skills

Tom Brady’s first year on the mic as a Fox broadcaster was, let’s be honest, rough around the edges. He came across as stiff and awkward, and his commentary often felt flat, almost like he was seeing the game strictly through a quarterback’s lens. That said, Fox was paying him $37.5 million per year, so pulling the plug was never realistic. And if you know Brady even a little, you know betting against him is usually a losing hand.

After all, Brady has made a career out of bouncing back, and more often than not, he comes back better than before. And that is exactly what happened in his second year as an announcer.

Even Fox NFL producer Richie Zyontz could not help but praise Brady’s growth this year. “To say he’s improved doesn’t do justice to where he is as an analyst. He’s excellent right now,” Zyontz said.

Fans noticed it too, especially during his Week 16 call of the Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears game. His Thanksgiving Day broadcast of the Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions matchup also drew positive reactions. So how did Brady flip the script in his favor?

In his weekly newsletter, 199, the former quarterback explains that he approached broadcasting the same way he once approached playing quarterback in New England. He started at level one. And only after seeing improvement would he move himself to level two.

Brady says he knew exactly what he needed to be as a broadcaster, sought feedback from people he trusted, and reached out to veterans who had been doing it for decades. He even went back and watched tape from his first season, treating it like film study and identifying what needed fixing.

“In the booth, I wanted to be quicker, more incisive. I wanted to feel more comfortable. I wanted to feel better at picking my spots and knocking it out of the park with just enough of the most useful information at the right time. Like everything I put my heart into, I wanted to be the best I could be; not just for myself, but for my teammates and the fans, as well,” Brady said, adding,

“I watched a lot of tape back from last season, again just like I did when I was a quarterback. I got advice from friends whose opinions I respected and from others colleagues whose experience I admired. I changed a bit about how I prepare for games and reorganized the information I have at my disposal over the course of these weeks.”

Brady says he’s started to get outside of his comfort zone, which is perhaps why he seems more confident now in his calls. Like in the Thanksgiving matchup, he said boldly,

“When there’s a safety in the middle of the field, you want to attack the seams. It’s not that hard. Look off the safety and throw the seam.”

With just one week of the regular season left, and then the playoffs, we can only imagine that Brady’ll come back even stronger for Year 3.