Tom Brady’s transition to NFL broadcasting has not been without it’s challenges – and the latest was in evidence on Sunday.
The legendary quarterback was in the FOX Sports announcers booth for one of the NFL’s biggest games of the season – the Week 7 Super Bowl rematch between Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
Brady made his mark early, appearing in the FOX studio via a hologram to discuss his interview with Patrick Mahomes.
His somewhat ‘magical’ appearance, made possible by green screen technology, drew a mixed response from fans.
“Why is Tom Brady being projected via hologram on the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show?? Kind of weird,” one fan posted on X.
Asked about it during the second quarter of the game, Brady responded to his play-by-play partner Kevin Burkhardt: “I was just staring into a camera….but that was some sick technology.”
As well as relegating the highly-rated Greg Olsen from FOX’s number one analyst role, criticism has centered on whether Brady will be able to do the job that pays him $375million over 10 years properly.
A matter of days after he was confirmed as part of the Las Vegas Raiders ownership group with a 5% stake in the franchise, Brady was on the call – for his new team’s AFC West rivals trip to Santa Clara.
As part of the coverage, Brady sat down with Mahomes to discuss the season so far and the details of quarterback play.
With his focus on broadcasting, he would usually be able to spend time with the teams in the build-up.
However, unlike other broadcasters, he is now unable to watch or witness practise for the teams that he is calling, and also cannot spend time in other teams facilities or attend production meetings that usually feature coaches and players from the teams.
Whether Brady will be able to continue carrying out interviews such as the chat he had with Mahomes remains to be seen.
It may be that they end up being at the discretion of each team and their ownership remains to be seen.
Brady’s status as an owner means that he has officially retired as a player – he would likely need special permission to come out of retirement to play football again, almost two years after taking his last snap.
It’s not only in and around the facilities and build-up that Brady could come up against issues, his position as minority owner means he cannot tamper with players and also cannot criticise officials.
Praise could be interpreted as such – although the practice of tampering can be difficult to prove – too much positivity from Brady could land the seven-time Super Bowl winner in trouble.
The nature of his calls will be under more scrutiny that the early season announcements that received a negative reception.
It all makes for a messy mix for Brady who is only seven games into his second career in the NFL – after 23 as player – he is now combining duties as an owner and broadcaster, a first in the league.
In the first quarter, a questionable interference call could have brought about a Brady reaction – but he very quickly handed the situation to FOX’s rules analyst Mike Perieira.
Brady made his move to join the Raiders in May 2023 but after a wait of almost 18 months it was approved by NFL owners on Tuesday.
Having already taken a share in the WNBA franchise the Las Vegas Aces alongside Mark Davis, the Raiders owner was delighted to have the former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback on board.
“It’s an exciting day for the Raider organization,” Davis said.
“Although Tom can’t play, I think he can help us select a quarterback in the future and potentially train him as well.”
Brady also has a role in English soccer team Birmingham City, taking an ownership share in August 2023 for the team who play in the third tier of the English pyramid.
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