Except for his podcast with suck-up-to-the-stars Jim Grey and a few television interviews here and there, Tom Brady has maintained as low a public presence as he can during his inaugural season as Fox’s No. 1 NFL commentator.
So the network’s decision to make him, along with the rest of its Super Bowl LIX broadcast team, available Wednesday for a conference call with a small group of sports media reporters, was welcomed as an overdue opportunity to question Brady about his uneven year in the booth and some notable plot developments, such as his limited partnership ownership of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The majority of the questions on the 45-minute call were directed towards Brady. Some, particularly the intricacies of that role with the Raiders, were avoided as effectively as he dodged pass rushers during his 20-year career with the Patriots.
Mostly, the whole thing went the way his broadcasts go: with lots of vagaries, even more platitudes (he called this Fox crew, which includes play-by-play voice Kevin Burkhardt and sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi, “the best teammates in the world”), and promising-but-sporadic bursts of insight and candour.
Brady, who has a 10-year, $375 million contract with Fox and recently stated that he looks forward to being in the booth for nine more years “or maybe longer,” has not addressed his feelings about the conflict of interest between his television role and his position with the Raiders. (I was impatiently waiting in queue with that query when the call terminated.) He did try to explain how someone who has always been full throttle in all he does will try to balance his television and minority ownership responsibilities.
“My ownership interest in the Raiders is just much more of a long-term, behind-the-scenes type role and I’m there to support the team and the leadership and the overall vision for the success,” according to him. When asked about the balance again, Brady provided some further information.
“I just think the responsibilities in both areas are just very different,” according to him.
“And as a broadcaster, when I’m here, I’m completely committed to what I do, and I’ve been that way all season. What I’ve accomplished this year is precisely what I hoped for: to be the best I could be for Fox Sports, to come up every week prepared, and to be a valuable member of the team. And that’s how I’ll continue.
“And when the season is finished and there are possibilities to contribute to my ownership interests in the Raiders and help the organisation, I will gladly do so. This year, I’ve taken a comprehensive approach as a broadcaster. In actuality, Mark Davis owns the Raiders. I support and compliment the vision that he has set. And [his Raiders engagement] will come at its own time and place.”
Because Brady is a minority owner of the Raiders, the NFL imposed restrictions on him as a broadcaster, including the inability to attend production meetings with players and coaches, visit another team’s facilities, observe practice, or criticise officials. Those restrictions have been abolished for the Super Bowl, but Brady doesn’t appear to have considered them an impediment in the first place. “From a research standpoint, I listened to press conferences all week,” he admitted. “To me, there’s really no difference between a media member asking a question on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday news conference, or a postgame press conference, and any of the things that I or the crew would ask.
The seven-time champion is as familiar as anybody with the demands and magnitude of the Super Bowl, which is broadcast to over 100 million people. Brady has improved as a broadcaster as the season has proceeded — he was downright fantastic in the Rams-Bills Week 14 clash and had a strong broadcast during the Eagles’ triumph over the Commanders in the NFC Championship game, with the exception of referring to players as a “stud” at least five times.
However, the final decision on how his season has gone will be made Sunday. Brady, as always, maintains an optimistic attitude. “I’ve always felt that [broadcasting] was going to be a challenge, and it’s certainly been that, and a very positive challenge,” according to Brady.
“I believe that part of the experience of life is stretching yourself and moving outside of your comfort zone to do new things that might be more transformative for you, and using your voice and vision in front of a live television audience is quite exciting. “I believe that when you take on this responsibility, you embrace the ambiguity of it. All you do is work as hard as you can.
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