Tom Brady’s NFL broadcasting career begins. What can fans expect?

Tom Brady’s journey to the broadcast booth began 28 months ago when FOX CEO Lachlan Murdoch made the stunning announcement during an earnings call that the legendary quarterback would eventually join the network’s main announcing team.

Brady had backtracked on his original retirement announcement at the time and committed to one more season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He took a “gap year” during the 2023 season, raising questions about whether “Brady the Broadcaster” would ever actually happen. Finally, when the Cleveland Browns host the Dallas Cowboys at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday in America’s “Game of the Week,” the most decorated player in NFL history will hold the microphone in his long-awaited second act.

Brady has made little mention of his new career during his sporadic public speaking engagements. FOX has not made Brady, its top on-air talent or production staff available for comment on the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s preparation.

Brady doesn’t need much promotion. But his new career will be one of the most visible storylines of the 2024 NFL season until he announces Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans.

“It’s going to take a while for everyone to get used to Tom Brady,” said Boomer Esiason, a veteran broadcaster and media personality. “It’s not going to happen overnight.”

What to expect from Tom Brady on the air

Brady has spent the past year doing his due diligence in learning the broadcasting trade. He’s reached out to top analysts at other networks, including NBC’s Cris Collinsworth and ESPN’s Troy Aikman, for advice. According to The Athletic, he watched a Miami Dolphins home game from NBC’s production truck in January. He and broadcast partner Kevin Burkhardt called practice games; Brady reportedly apologized to Burkhardt after mistakes and the play-by-play man offered reassurances, Brady said in an interview with FOX’s “NFL Sunday” host Curt Menefee.

“I want to get up every day and try to prove to them, ‘Hey guys, I know I’m a rookie, but I’m going to stand up for you guys too,’” Brady told Menefee.

Esiason said Brady’s entry into the business world is unique because of this level and type of preparation.

“Nobody has done it the way he has done it yet,” the radio host and former anchor from New York told USA TODAY Sports.

Esiason said early on that the broadcasts would be more like an interview between Burkhardt and Brady. As they built chemistry, the duo would become more like a traditional booth. Brady won’t be perfect and will make mistakes, and Esiason believes Burkhardt is the ideal announcer to be the safety net next to a rookie announcer.

“I knew he was going to be good. And he turned out to be great,” said Esiason, who began following Burkhardt when he was a local television reporter for the New York Mets. “FOX found a replacement for Joe Buck. That’s how good ‘KB’ is.”

Esiason knows the importance of starting strong with a new broadcast partner. He and Al Michaels didn’t work well together in their lone season in the “Monday Night Football” booth on ABC. Burkhardt, 50, is three years older than Brady, and Esiason predicted the duo would have enough in common to form a foundation during their first round.

“I think this is the perfect guy for someone who is just starting out,” Esiason said.

How Critical Will Tom Brady Be of NFL Players and Coaches?

Since effectively retiring, and even during his final years in Tampa, Brady has not been afraid to voice his opinions through various media outlets, most notably his SiriusXM podcast, “Let’s Go!” Last season, during a conversation with Stephen A. Smith, Brady was critical of the league’s coaching and rules that protected offensive players.

“I think there’s a lot of mediocrity in today’s NFL,” Brady said.

The three-time Most Valuable Player posted on social media last December that quarterbacks need to “throw the ball in the right spots” after a hit that injured Indianapolis Colts wideout Michael Pittman Jr.

Before his New England Patriots Hall of Fame induction ceremony in June, Brady told Yahoo! Sports that “quarterbacking has taken a little bit of a backseat in the NFL” due to coaching at both the college and professional levels.

The purest form of football commentary comes from “someone who is devoid of friendships and someone who is not afraid to criticise,” Esiason said.

Brady tempered expectations about how tough he might be during Fanatics Fest in New York last month. On a panel with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Brady said he might want to make a comment that a play “was terrible.”

“I just can’t say that on TV,” he said.

“Why not?” asked Smith.

“Well, because there are parents and family members, and I don’t necessarily want to say it that way all the time,” Brady said. “But if I was doing it myself, and let’s say I threw a really bad interception, I’d walk to the sideline and say, ‘You’re the worst quarterback in the world. How could you make that throw? Horrible!’

“But I don’t want to be so critical, because in some ways I don’t necessarily know exactly what the problem was in that play.”

In 1997, the New York Times wrote about how Esiason’s relationship with Cris Collinsworth had suffered a blow because of Collinsworth’s ratings early in his career as a TV host.

Collinsworth’s advice to Brady was what everyone at FOX had already told him – and is one of the core principles of sports television: Be yourself.

“Just be yourself,” Brady told Menefee. “I thought, ‘That’s the worst advice.'”

The kind words are a bit different in tone from what Collinsworth told the Times 27 years ago.

“This is a bad thing,” Collinsworth said at the time. “But I can only rationalize what I do by seeing myself as a coach. If everybody loves you, you’re not a good coach.”

Restrictions already plague Brady’s job. While pursuing a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, Brady is barred from entering another team’s facility, which prevents him from participating in the traditional production meetings and access that rights holders are accustomed to. Burkhardt, the production team and sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi are still allowed to hold those meetings, and Brady can also obtain original information, similar to how Peyton Manning does for his “ManningCast” shows.

Brady is allowed to cover Raiders games, but must abide by the league’s bylaws and bylaws, the NFL said, which can “prohibit public criticism of officials and other clubs.”

Aikman, who previously sat in Brady’s seat at FOX before joining “MNF” two years ago, told the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast in June that Brady will have to find his voice in that regard.

“I think he’ll give an honest, unvarnished opinion,” Aikman said, “and I think he’ll be really good.”

How will fans react to Tom Brady’s announcement?

On the other end of the criticism spectrum is how Brady will receive the inevitable naysayers. Brady will always have a handle on what’s happening on the field and be articulate enough to convey it, Esiason said. There will be an adjustment period no matter what.

“His voice is a little higher,” Esiason said, “so people will have to get used to that for three and a half hours.”

What works against Brady is that football fans already have an opinion about him. Followers of teams in the AFC East that aren’t called the New England Patriots probably aren’t going to get the kindest feedback.

Social media has only amplified the negativity. At some point Sunday, Esiason said, Brady will be trending. The criticism coming his way will be “hot and heavy.” There will be trolls and supporters.

“I don’t think Tom would be too impressed with that,” Esiason said, “but you never know.”

Brady has gained instant credibility and respect from most fans because of his individual achievements and dedication to the sport.

“Everyone is going to nitpick,” said Esiason, who covered “Monday Night Football” and the Super Bowl for Westwood One from 1999 to 2018 and until this year was a member of CBS’ “NFL Today” on Sundays.

The role of lead network analyst requires a strong skin.

“Reptilian skin to get in there (the cabin),” Esiason said.

Esiason now asks the question on everyone’s mind as the GOAT smiles at the camera and fires up the telestrator.

“Do you really want to do this?”