This Thanksgiving, Tom Brady can be thankful for the 21 NFL games (including playoffs) he will broadcast for FOX before Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans.
He’ll need every one to prepare for the big game – and if his progression through the first 11 games he’s been behind the microphone for is any indication, he’ll keep improving alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt.
Burkhardt and Brady will call the dud of the Turkey Day slate, as the New York Giants face the Dallas Cowboys (FOX, 4:30 p.m. ET). Before that, though, USA TODAY Sports reviewed all of Brady’s calls thus far and discovered four ways the seven-time Super Bowl champion has bettered himself since his shaky Week 1 debut in Cleveland.
(FOX Sports did not comment for this story and has not made Brady nor anyone affiliated with the No. 1 broadcast team available for interviews.)
Less like a huddle on the field, more like a fireside chat
For some reason, Brady announces as though he is still shouting out plays to his teammates in the huddle. Burkhardt is right next to him, and the excitement is at least engaging. He’s also toned it down as the season has progressed, and the volume control certainly makes for a better listen. The crowd noise in the stadium is definitely a factor, but he did need to figure out he had a microphone at his mouth and that yelling wasn’t necessary – although the enthusiasm appears authentic.
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Brady enunciated like a composer inserted staccato notes into his speech pattern at the start of the season. The five-time Super Bowl MVP, as he’s become more comfortable, has smoothed out his speech.
From dead air to some stream of consciousness
The start of Brady’s broadcasting career was tough to judge because, well, he wasn’t saying much. Stretches of silence permeated throughout FOX broadcasts in September. Burkhardt would set him up, and Brady would either say nothing or too little – and it’s a tough balance to strike. Producers always tell talent to get in and get out with their points; Brady probably took that too literally in the early going but has started to find a rhythm in that sense. Burkhardt’s patience and willingness to be a good teammate has been key.
Of course, the constraints the NFL placed on Brady since he first agreed to buy into the Las Vegas Raiders’ ownership group limit how critical he can be of the referees and the league at large. But Brady has offered more of what has been on his mind during games.
Dialing down the ‘Romo’ in him
Thursday will mark the fifth Cowboys game Burkhardt and Brady have called this season (the first since Week 6). Tony Romo, the former Cowboys quarterback and No. 1 analyst for CBS, has become known for the various “oohs” and “ahhs” he’ll throw in throughout a telecast. And Brady definitely has some of that in him – back to the excitement that’s present in his calls. Sometimes it can be distracting, especially when Burkhardt is in the middle of a call. Big plays almost always seem to feature a Brady exclamation point.
“Throw it up!” Brady said as Jordan Love rolled out on a free play in the red zone during last week’s San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers contest.
It would be better for Brady to maybe save those brief outbursts for the most dramatic moments.
Balancing playing-day experiences with what he’s watching
At the start of the second quarter during last week’s Packers-Niners matchup, Brady mentioned how the season really started for the New England Patriots after Thanksgiving most years during a conversation about emerging contenders in the NFL this season.
Broadcasts have to do more than the game in front of them. (Blowouts are typically a ripe opportunity.) Brady clearly has a wide breadth of knowledge in the league, and he’s definitely been displaying more of it recently. But a Puck News report said FOX would like to see him talk more about what’s actually happening on the field.
Few people have more football stories than Brady. People want to hear them. Maybe keeping them close to the vest to start his broadcasting career was a strategic play, but he shouldn’t be afraid to make it personal – and that includes how he played the quarterback position. More high-level quarterback analysis from Brady would serve the telecast well. He’s one of the best to play the most important position in sports and could offer something unique on every play if he wanted to. There’s no need to go to the depths of “Peyton-Manning-breaking-it-down-on-the-ManningCast,” but he can do more.