Logan Ryan on Tom Brady Broadcast Pivot: ‘Never Been Done’

One of Tom Brady’s former teammates is bullish on his future as a broadcaster.

Logan Ryan joined Front Office Sports editor-in-chief Dan Roberts for the Portfolio Players series last week and was asked about the similarities and differences between succeeding on the football field as opposed to on TV. 

“Yeah, the two don’t have to coincide. What you need to do on TV isn’t exactly what you need to be great at football,” Ryan said. “You have to be able to process in football and understand to have success. On TV, that is similar, but you gotta get it out much quicker and you gotta be entertaining, and you can’t… there’s a lot of rules to it.”

Ryan, an 11-year NFL cornerback, played with Brady for four seasons in New England and one season in Tampa. He won two Super Bowl rings with the Patriots and, while on the Titans, intercepted Brady’s final pass as a Patriot.

Brady signed a 10-year deal with Fox Sports worth $375 million to be the network’s No. 1 color commentator after his retirement. He began the job last season with a considerable amount of pressure, given that he’d not only be replacing a popular broadcaster in Greg Olsen but that the first year in the booth culminated with the Super Bowl. 

On Portfolio Players, Ryan pointed out that players of Brady’s stature might do studio commentary, but you don’t see them vaulting into announcing booths to do play-by-play. 

“What Tom is doing, it’s never been done, having the GOAT of their sport commentate game to game,” Ryan said. “I don’t see Tiger Woods commentating The Masters. I don’t see Wayne Gretzky commentating hockey games week in and week out. I never saw Michael Jordan commentating 82 basketball games. We’ve never seen the greatest do that. We’ve seen guys do a halftime hit. You know, we might see Shaq and Chuck and those guys at halftime, but calling the games is a big leap because you’re up for so much scrutiny. You’re going to make a mistake in three hours of people listening to your voice.”

What Tony Romo accomplished, jumping straight from quarterback into the top CBS announcing spot, was rare. He came into the booth with infectious enthusiasm and caught on fire immediately by correctly predicting what plays teams like Brady’s Patriots would run on offense.

Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion, had a learning curve in the booth with regard to delivering his thoughts in a consistent cadence during the tight window between plays. Prior to the Super Bowl, Brady insisted that he would be returning for a second year in the booth.

“I don’t know where it comes from. I know it always says ‘sources close to Brady,’ or whatever. But I’ve had the best time at Fox,” Brady told Colin Cowherd on FS1. “I’ve loved every time going into the booth and working with such great people, starting with my partner Kevin (Burkhardt).”

Having seen Brady’s work ethic in the football facility, Ryan is optimistic that Brady is on an upward trajectory in his new career.  

“I thought he got better throughout the year,” Ryan said. “I know everybody was blown away by his work ethic and just his personality. He’s a really good dude. So I think he got better. I enjoyed him doing the Super Bowl. And if I know Tom, I know he’s going to put the work in to improve.”