As Tom Brady continues to prepare for his debut in the lead NFL booth for Fox next season, he’ll do so knowing he has to prove doubters like Mike Francesa wrong.
When Brady finally joins Fox for his first regular season game in September, it will be more than two years removed from the announcement that he signed a decade-long $375 million contract with the network. Many believe Brady won’t fulfill the duration of that contract, while others still think there’s a chance the seven-time Super Bowl champion never steps foot in the booth for Fox. Francesa, however, just doesn’t think Brady will be good at the job.
On the latest episode of The Mike Francesa Podcast, the former WFAN host and CBS Sports studio analyst was asked whether he believed Brady will be good at Fox.
“No. I don’t,” Francesa said definitively. “I don’t think his heart’s in it. I don’t think his personality is such. I don’t think he’s going to be great at it. I really don’t. I think there’s a unique quality that you have to bring that allows you as an analyst to see the game, see the game quickly, plus bring personality into it. It’s a tricky job for the analyst in football because you’re going to spend a lot of time over replay. You’re going to spend a lot of time breaking down what happens on replay. And you also have to be very personable and glib in how you do it. I don’t see him there.”
It’s reasonable to question whether Brady will be a good broadcaster and live up to his $375 million contract considering we haven’t seen him do it before. But one aspect of the job that Brady should have no issue with is seeing the game and seeing the game quickly. As if Brady didn’t already prove his ability to “see the game quickly” during his more than two decades as arguably the best quarterback in NFL history. The personality aspect of the job is the more viable question when it comes to Brady, considering he spent most of his NFL career trying to avoid saying anything noteworthy.
Francesa went on to note that he believes Brady nearing an ownership stake in the Las Vegas Raiders will impact him as a broadcaster, and certainly will impact any aspirations he has of playing again.
“That’s why he’s never playing again. He has to give up ownership if he plays again,” Francesa said. “He can’t even play on the Raiders. An owner can’t wear a uniform, cause if you let an owner be part of the game, Jerry Jones would have been coaching and Ted Turner would have been a manager many, many years ago.”
“He is the first NFL player in modern times…to be able to do this,” Francesa continued. “So, I think that will impact him as a broadcaster. I think that will impact him in any thoughts of playing again, which I think are ridiculous. To answer the question, I don’t think he’s gonna be great at it. I really don’t. I don’t think he has that personality, I just don’t see it happening.”
But Brady shouldn’t feel too bad about Francesa not believing in him as a broadcaster. Francesa admitted he similarly thought Troy Aikman was going to be a bad broadcaster, and has since been proven wrong. Now it’s on Brady to do the same.