Tom Brady is officially coming back to the NFL. No, he's not un-retiring again; this time, he is returning as a broadcaster. His move from the player side to the media side is something that has been in the works for a while, and we now know which game will kick off his new job.
Brady will be the color commentator for a Week 1 matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Browns in Cleveland at 4:25 p.m. ET. The GOAT was 7-0 against the Cowboys in his career and 7-2 against the Browns. These are two teams he knows well, but instead of being on the other sideline, now he will be up in the booth.
"Amazing. Obviously having the Cowboys on is a huge draw," Brady said in response to how it'll feel to call Cowboys-Browns. "As 'America's Team' -- that's going to get a little hard for me to say that all the time, understand they were the competition for a long time. But in this new role, I know the Cowboys, how important they are to this network, they got great storylines. C'mon, Dak Prescott, let's see if he can finally come through."
There are a lot of reasons to get excited for the seven-time Super Bowl champion to be calling his first game. For starters, a seven-time Super Bowl champion has never called a game before, because other than Brady, no player (or team) has ever hoisted that many Lombardi Trophies.
Here are three of the biggest reasons we are looking forward to hearing TB12 give commentary on an NFL game:
1. Finally, we get to hear the GOAT break down a football game in his highly anticipated debut
For years, we watched Brady dominate on the football field, from putting on a clinic demolishing defenses to running two-minute offenses that beat the odds to running up the score and experiencing significant losses -- we really saw him do it all. His career spanned multiple decades, from 2000 to 2022. During that time, he played in 335 regular season games, starting 333, so he has just a little experience on a football field.
He learned from one of the greatest coaches of all-time in Bill Belichick, and while the debate about who is responsible for the two New England Patriots dynasties will go on forever, there is no doubt that having a head coach with such a high football IQ rubbed off on TB12.
In his time, Brady played with quarterbacks-turned receivers, threw touchdown passes to former college lacrosse players and broke records with future Hall of Famers. He will be able to spot potential talent in the underdog players, because his career was riddled with players just like that. He also knows firsthand what playing alongside some of the best can do for a QB.
Brady knows how to read defenses, so having him in the booth to explain what he sees will give viewers a peak into the future Hall of Famer's football mind, a place opponents tried to get into for years. The countless hours watching tape, running practices and participating in drills will now pay off in a new way.
During the 2000 NFL Draft, Brady was not among those hyped-up quarterbacks whom everyone was saying would be a starter in the league. His scouting reports had a lot of negatives and he was left waiting around for a team to call him, listening to 198 names announced before his own. The No. 199 pick had to prove himself early on, and the experience of coming up in the league will allow him to relate to players doing the same.
2. NFL fans can watch him without worrying he'll beat their favorite team
If you were not a fan of the Patriots from 2000 to 2019, or a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2020 to 2022, you probably did not like seeing Brady's face on your television. More often than not, it meant your team was going to lose.
Brady's regular season record was 251–82, an NFL record, and he was 35-13 in the playoffs, another NFL record.
The sixth-round pick left opposing fans with their heads sulking and quickly became one of the most hated players in the league because of it. For nearly 20 years, the AFC ran through the Patriots because of No. 12, and even when he switched teams, they not only made the Super Bowl, but won in their home stadium.
Now, finally Brady can come on your TV screen without the fear that he will embarrass your favorite team.
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3. Brady Roast Part II: How will the longtime QB talk about the many players/coaches he's built relationships with over the years?
We learned that Brady has a good sense of humor when he participated in a live roast earlier this month. Hopefully he will bring some of these quips and one-liners to the booth, maybe even to roast some of the guys he played against during his time in the league.
While many rookies were not even born when Brady was drafted in the NFL, there are still many players on the field whom Brady played alongside or against. Some he played with are still in the league or are coaching in the league. Patriots first-year head coach Jerod Mayo was Brady's teammate from 2008 to 2015, with the two winning a Super Bowl together.
With both those personal relationships and experience prepping to face off against some of these players, Brady will have stories, insight and commentary that many would not have.
