NFL legend Tom Brady has transitioned to a career in the broadcast booth following his playing career. Now, Brady is gearing up for the second year in what will be a ten-year deal as a member of FOX’s premier broadcast team.
However, although he improved as the year stretched on, Brady’s first season calling games left a lot to be desired. Now, the former gunslinger is acknowledging that he experienced some growing pains as he learned the business on the fly.
“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 said, according to Awful Announcing. “And probably a lot like being an NFL quarterback.
“You think, ‘I’m prepared and I got and I practiced.’ You go into a real game in your rookie year, and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, that’s a lot faster. What am I doing?’ It gets a little better in Week 2 and a little better in Week 3.
“And sometimes you regress a little bit, and sometimes you do things you really like that impress you. And sometimes you’re like you forgot completely going into Week 9, ‘How did I do that?’ or ‘What was I talking about?’”
Fans reacted to brady on social media.
“Tom would serve himself and fans well if he could be willing to laugh at himself and be a bit self-deprecating at times,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“If Tom Brady doesn’t improve within the next couple of years then he should give up broadcasting and focus on being part-owner of the Raiders. Maybe he is not as good as others because he has restrictions since he is part-owner of the Raiders,” someone else wrote.
It’ll be interesting to see if Brady shows significant improvement in his second season.