Posting here for a couple reasons. Fun little inside look at Toms weekend, great interaction with Jules. Also a response to the Tommy to Miami grumblings. He's not coming back.
TB12 as an Analyst
- Thread starter riboflav
- Start date
If Brady and Edelman did broadcasts of bad high school football, I would watch if only for the back and forth. Replace Manningcast with these guys.
Tom always comes across well when shooting the shit with guys, he was one of the best ManningCast guests as well. He's way too in his own head as an analyst.
He needs to let his guard down and be a little more unfiltered. Easier said than done for a guy who acted very guarded with the media for 20+ years, but viewers don't want anodyne analysis. Most want entertainment, some want to learn something new about a complicated game. He's much more well suited to the latter, but to be effective he'll have to be critical and run the risk of offending some people.
It's been one game. Brady is going to improve and he wasn't even bad on Sunday. He was adequate and nervous. Definitely not great, but it wasn't bad. People saying it was bad are nuts.
But he's going to improve, dramatically.
But he's going to improve, dramatically.
Brady isn't bad at announcing, if there was a transcription, he does a good job. The biggest issue is, he's not entertaining. I know Romo and Collinsworth get a lot of flack for their silly catch phrases and going overboard with metaphors, but at least they sound enthusiastic. Brady sounds like a robot, like Joe Buck used to sound back in the early 2000's, and he doesn't bring viewers in. Like someone else mentioned in this thread, he needs to be willing to be more vulnerable and not sound so "professional".
He’s really not good. (Neither good at imparting knowledge nor entertaining) I think even Sanchez is better
yeah he's terrible, he doesn't bring any entertainment, but he also doesn't impart any unique kniowledge, he just slowly says the same thing the PBP guy did then an empty platitude, or he has a rambling story about when he played
Oh, he’s terrible. Maybe he’ll get better but it’s brutal. They’re paying him a fortune for unique insight and all he provides are canned commentaries and a lot of dead air. It’s shocking how bad he is.
I thought he was better today. He's got a little too much early Greg Olsen in him (the "and...") but he's getting more comfortable. I really would like him to do more presnap diagnosis through the QBs eyes. He must be doing that in his head. He just can't get it out or him and Burkhardt can't coordinate well yet.
He's exactly how I thought he would be. He's fine. Decent. Not all that interesting, insightful, or controversial. He's fine. Not worth the big $, but that seemed inevitable
I had the game on in the background and he was so vanilla I didn't realize it was him until the half was almost over.
I thought he was actually better this week, including his postgame. I agree that he needs to settle in, but I don't really think this is for him or them.
Some people fit this role, I don't think he does. I predict this is a one and done for him and he uses "other interests" to step away. Maybe the ownership thing.
Nice, that’s an elegant ’fail up’ exit where everyone walks away with their head held high.
I tip my cap to you, sir!
These "it's shocking how bad he is" takes are just crazy. Brady was great yesterday and he's improved a solid amount the last two weeks.
He's on the right trajectory and he was great yesterday, in game 3. What Brady isn't is shockingly bad. Have you actually heard bad announcers?
He's on the right trajectory and he was great yesterday, in game 3. What Brady isn't is shockingly bad. Have you actually heard bad announcers?
At least he isn’t a bloviator like so many others. He was much better yesterday. His personality is slowly starting to come out. If he gets more relaxed he could be very good or even excellent. He has a natural humility that speaks volumes.
I think he might get addicted to the announcing because he's a film junkie and it gives him a reason to dig into things without any real pressure or accountability. Kind of a nice outlet for a guy who struggled to walk away from playing. He won't really get that as a minority owner.
Everyone should remember that FOX didn't hire Brady because they saw some great potential in him for the commentator role. They hired him entirely because of his name and that he'd be able to shmooze with advertisers and network partners.
If Brady gives FOX replacement-level commentating they'll be thrilled.
He's not replacement-level yet.
If Brady gives FOX replacement-level commentating they'll be thrilled.
He's not replacement-level yet.
I thought he was pretty good yesterday, he was clearly more comfortable than in his first two weeks and he's developing a rapport.
I thought he was much better than week 1 (didn't see him last week). Seemed more at ease.
But I thought when Dallas was making its comeback from 28-6, there were so many opportunities to give color about what a QB thinks etc about facing that type of challenge. I'm reasonably sure he must have some memories that might have been apropos that the audience would enjoy.
But I thought when Dallas was making its comeback from 28-6, there were so many opportunities to give color about what a QB thinks etc about facing that type of challenge. I'm reasonably sure he must have some memories that might have been apropos that the audience would enjoy.
I heard him respond to a question after the game from one of the panel guys that brought up 28-3, but don't recall him saying anything during the game. But I was making dinner as it was a blow-out and may not have been paying close enough attention.
Given the absolute wasteland that is announcing generally and NFL specifically, TB is absolutely providing generic, replacement level color commentary.
They did that when talking about 28 - 3. Personally, I loved hearing more about it, but it almost went into a self-serving discussion that was more suited for an interview. Thankfully they stopped before it went too far.
Brady is the worst of the color commentators to me, he's just not good at the form. He'd be much better in the studio. He constantly wastes half his spot with this reflexive repeating of what the PBP guy just said, it's a rhetorical trick to gather his thoughts, but when your job is to nail 20 seconds between plays it means his pacing is constantly off, and he's getting cut off by the play, then trying to finish the thought over more and more play breaks. Maybe he'll get better, but right now he screams "Studio host", he doesn't get to things quick enough, he doesn't bring any incisive detail either.
Change "replacement level" to "average" then. I should have known not to use a term that people here have well defined in their mind. He's not average yet, IMHO. Others disagree, clearly.
It will be interesting to see him do a non-Dallas game. I feel like he's getting better but he's been talking about the same team for three weeks. He'll get better, he's never going to be Madden, that's obvious, but he will get more comfortable as time goes on. I remember Remi talking about how awful he was when he started at NESN and he turned out ok in the long run.
Nope, I think he's very concerned with what exactly he says and has trained himself to always be polished, so he's not going to just blurt stuff out, but sometimes (often) a PBP guy's job is to just fill the space or blurt out what he sees/knows.
Like Romo calling out plays was great, or Archuleta's "oh no" when he saw that pick coming
There are truly some terrible color guys that calling Brady the worst is way too far for me. Some of these guys make me want to change the channel.
Forget the color guys - does Fox have any good lead announcers? I find Burkhardt decidedly average, and they call him their #1. CBS has at least 4 leads better than Burkhardt (Harlan, Eagle, Nantz and Dedes). I do like Kenny Albert, though he's often saddled with poor quality games.
To Brady though, he did seem more animated during his Tales of 28-3, and he did properly push the notion that DAL just needed to just worry about their current drive and not the hole they'd dug. He didn't do much to explain how they were getting it done though.
To Brady though, he did seem more animated during his Tales of 28-3, and he did properly push the notion that DAL just needed to just worry about their current drive and not the hole they'd dug. He didn't do much to explain how they were getting it done though.
This is it for me. Each of the top three major networks used to have a top quality play-by-play guy and color man. Then, ESPN “stole” Buck and Aikman and left Fox with, to me, no top class announcer PBP guy. Burkhardt is not one of those for me either. Maybe an apprenticeship for a color guy should be to do play-by-play for a while. Tough one.
Tom had a good line for Baker Mayfield
https://www.tiktok.com/@thesportingnews/video/7420131404782046506
https://www.tiktok.com/@thesportingnews/video/7420131404782046506
Didn’t see that game but whatever It takes for Tom to stop throwing bouquets players’ way and to start letting it rip a little. Despite the good looks and seemingly mild manner I’m sure Fox hired him for, the guy is a competitive animal and it’s when that shit is triggered that we start see let the real Tom come out.
More, please.
More, please.
The way Mayfield carries himself bothers me immensely. Dude is a nobody in this league, maybe indulge in a little humility? "Oh but he wasn't dissing Tom, he was just pointing out the contrast between them", he was absolutely dissing Tom, he even went on to point out that Brady would sabotage plays that he didn't like and were still put in the playbook on game day. Completely uncalled for and self serving. Tom went easy on him.
There is nobody in the history of the league that has more gravitas when it comes to trash talking than Tom Brady. I think we see him as being courteous all the time behind the mic because that's how he typically has been in press conferences, but we've also heard enough about him that he can sling it verbally with the big boys, and obviously he has the resumé to be able to tell anyone what's what.
Mayfield walked back those comments some today, using the classic "taken out of context" line.
Ironically Mayfield balled out yesterday, so maybe he's taking some of those comments to heart going forward?
Ironically Mayfield balled out yesterday, so maybe he's taking some of those comments to heart going forward?
Yeah, absolutely. I don't want it to become a schtick where he criticizes unnecessarily, but he's got to be real up there in the booth for it to really work. When he sees something he needs to say it, as if he was talking to a peer audience. Burkhardt could help elicit this as well. He did with the Baker comments.
You could see Brady sort of relished letting it rip, too. He’s for years of being a good teammate and loyal soldier to put behind him. Now he’s a critic! Listening to Collinsworth last night and his mild mannered stupid critiques of what he’s seeing on the field, you KNOW that Brady could absolutely roast these guys if he decides he wants to.
I thought Brady was pretty good yesterday (I am a BUCS STH that goes to about half of the games and watched this one on TV). One of the points he made - and which most miss - is just how much the heat affects FL games in Sept/Oct. Florida day football in Sept/Oct is a war of attrition and he described why well yesterday.
He was also pretty interesting in talking about his decision to go to Tampa (Chi was more in the mix than I knew).
He was also pretty interesting in talking about his decision to go to Tampa (Chi was more in the mix than I knew).
Brady also can talk multiple dimensions of trash bc played in two different eras: the “tough guy/you can do whatever you want to the QB because he’s not the center of everything and I got killed” era and the new Mahomes-y “the only thing that matters is the QB and I lit it the fuck up” era. This is partly what gave Eck license to let it rip—he’d been a longtime successful starter in the 70s and 80s as well as an elite closer in the 80s and 90s—so he could really speak with authority on almost any aspect or era of the game.
Brady is by no means as colorful as Eck, but he shares an almost unprecedented reach allows him to talk about both the extreme skill required of elite QBs today but also to dissect the overall quality of play in the league in a way that pretty much no other color guy could. Put another way, Brady has a much higher ceiling than being a warmed over Tony Romo, impressing us plebes with pre-snap shit – and that is what he should be shooting for, execs be damned
Brady is by no means as colorful as Eck, but he shares an almost unprecedented reach allows him to talk about both the extreme skill required of elite QBs today but also to dissect the overall quality of play in the league in a way that pretty much no other color guy could. Put another way, Brady has a much higher ceiling than being a warmed over Tony Romo, impressing us plebes with pre-snap shit – and that is what he should be shooting for, execs be damned
Tom showed he's in a whole different weight class than this little puke. He did go easy on him while also reminding the world whole different class of player.
Tom almost went over the top with his praise of Baker the rest of the way.
But "This wasn't daycare" is a classic line.
But "This wasn't daycare" is a classic line.