Tom Brady Report Card: How NFL Legend Fared In Super Bowl Broadcast

Tom Brady wrapped up his first season as a broadcaster for FOX Sports with his call of Super Bowl LIX.

Brady had major expectations to face when he joined the network on a 10-year, $375 million contract that knocked capable analyst Greg Olsen out of FOX’s No. 1 spot. He got off to a shaky start but improved during the season alongside lead play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Burkhardt.

The Super Bowl made Brady’s career with seven championships as a legendary quarterback. In his latest football chapter, his broadcast performance in the Super Bowl also presented a consequential challenge for his career. His call between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles had inconsistencies but showed the growth in his craft.

He also interviewed Patrick Mahomes in a cinematic feature that presented the most comfortable version of Brady we’ve seen on-air.

As for the game, here are the key areas to grade from Brady’s first Super Bowl broadcast.

CADENCE
Brady fell back to a choppier version of himself early on that came through during his debut back in September. Once the game began, he spoke with some better conviction in his voice after a somewhat awkward intro.

Brady certainly seemed to find his comfort level in the second quarter and sounded much more confident for the remainder of the game, which showed on the broadcast. He did fall into another tough spot when his voice went rather raspy in the third quarter, a vocal trend that came up quite a bit late in the season during Brady’s broadcasts.

HUMOR
Brady showed an ability to show his personality and have fun with Burkhardt, an area of his on-air persona that was a topic of discussion prior to the game.

He made fun of his lack of math skills while totaling the weight of the Eagles’ offensive line and challenged Burkhardt to do karaoke of “Take Me Home Country Roads.” He also laughed off a few playful reminders from his broadcast partner of the few low moments of his Super Bowl career from not scoring a first-quarter touchdown in nine Super Bowls with the Patriots to his fateful strip-sack at the hands of Brandon Graham in Super Bowl LII.

Brady also joined Burkhardt when FOX and Duracell teamed up for a Super Bowl commercial where the quarterback needs new batteries and a technician recharges him and Burkhardt asked if he was OK.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that since the roast?” Brady said when he reset in the acting scene.

That came in reference to the viral Netflix roast of Brady with several celebrities and former teammates last summer.

STORYTELLING
Brady began his cold open while rocking a six-figure gold watch, with Burkhardt retelling stories of his game preparation for the Super Bowl in his playing career. He retold the tale of taking a nap before Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans and barely sleeping before Super Bowl LV.

We made it a point to call that a priority for Brady entering the broadcast and he made sure to fall back on his experiences in the sport’s biggest game, which creates any and all draw for fans to listen to Brady’s commentary.

CRITICISM
Brady had no problem calling the game as he saw it, particularly with early criticism of the officials. The analyst slammed two early penalties with offensive pass interference on A.J. Brown that took away a fourth-down conversion while an unnecessary roughness call on Trent McDuffie gave the Eagles a first down.

ANALYSIS
Brady had a fairly crisp read of the action and made his points understandable to the broadest football audience of the season.

He did run long on his analysis of Jalen Hurts’ second-quarter interception and FOX cut to commercial break right in the middle of Brady’s comments. He followed with one of his better sequences later in the quarter when he showed the audience how Cooper DeJean read the ill-advised throw from Patrick Mahomes on a pick-six that gave Philadelphia all the momentum.

Brady had another note that stood out late as the Chiefs fell short of the NFL’s first-ever three-peat. He compared the Kansas City loss to the Patriots falling short of a 19-0 season with the Super Bowl XLII loss to the New York Giants.

“I think about the three losses probably more than I think about the seven wins,” Brady said.

His dive into the historical context of the loss in a prolonged analysis marked his most complete and useful contribution to the broadcast.

GRADE: B+

Brady had a few areas that are still fairly inconsistent in his vocal cadence and the timing of his analysis. Overall, his energy had a positive impact on the broadcast and he found a better way to play to his strengths.

Did he turn in a performance worthy of a No. 1 analyst? He took steps toward doing so.