Tom Brady admitted he had to overcome “growing pains” and “confusing” feedback as Fox’s No. 1 NFL game analyst during his first season, which kicked off a 10-year, $375 million contract last fall.
“I thought I was prepared, because I had done a lot of research and I had a year to prepare and a lot of practice games,” Brady said this week on The Joel Klatt Show. “But there’s absolutely nothing that I did that could really prepare me for what I was about to endure. And there was a lot of growing pains through the year for me, just in terms of prep and, obviously, going on-air, and there’s things you messed up and there’s things that you make mistakes.”
Brady’s performance in the broadcast booth was a hot topic among NFL viewers, and he had limitations put on his access to teams and players due to his dual role as a minority owner of the Raiders.
“You don’t want to have these terrible moments where you completely miss it,” Brady said. “And I think maybe I was really conscious of that early, and then I got to be a little more freed up as the season went on.”
During the playoffs, the “Brady Rules” were tested, as he was part of the Las Vegas contingent who interviewed coaching candidates, including both Lions coordinators, just before Brady called Detroit’s NFC divisional matchup against the Commanders.
Brady said he was “way more comfortable” by the time he called Super Bowl LIX in front of a record 127.7 million viewers.
Despite the progress, Brady remains perplexed by one “tricky” thing about broadcasting—viewers all like something different. “Some like a little teaching. Some like a little entertainment. Some like personal stories. Some you’re talking too much about yourself,” he said. “Depending on who you ask, you get a lot of feedback. And that’s, I think, a little bit of the confusing part.”
Brady and Fox will open the 2025 NFL season with the Giants-Commanders in Week 1 and the Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl rematch in Week 2. That’s a stark contrast from his debut season, which started with three consecutive games involving the Cowboys.
