Next Tuesday, Nov. 16, sees the ESPN+ debut of the first part of Man In The Arena, the ten-part documentary series on Tom Brady from Gotham Chopra and Religion of Sports, Brady’s 199 Productions, and NFL Films. Each episode of the series will focus on a specific Super Bowl appearance from Brady, with the first one covering his first, 2002’s Super Bowl XXXVI. For those interested in more on the series, ESPN will do a special presentation of it at 9 p.m. Eastern each Tuesday followed by an “Inside The Arena” post-show on ESPN+ with Tedy Bruschi and Field Yates and a companion “After The Arena” show with Shae Cornette, Jason Fitz, and Skubie Mageza streaming on the ESPN app and ESPN’s Facebook page. And now, Religion of Sports and ESPN+ have announced a companion Man In The Arena podcast for the show, with Chopra (who directed the series) talking to special guests including Tottenham star Harry Kane, Ted Lasso co-creator Brendan Hunt, former Patriots’ lineman Rich Ohrnberger and more. Here’s a trailer for that podcast:
And here’s more on it from a release:
This 10-part series takes a unique look at the past two decades of Tom Brady’s career through the eyes of the fans and the haters, those in the arena and those outside, while exploring a more personal side of the football legend. Brady has altered friendships, families and communities. He’s changed the trajectory of careers and reputations, enabled fairy tale dreams to be both realized and dashed. As host, Gotham Chopra grapples with these big themes, while grounding the podcast in his personal relationship with Tom and his journey from a Brady fan to Tom’s friend.
The list of guests features prominent figures from the world of sports and beyond, including former Patriots lineman Rich Ohrnberger; English Premier League star Harry Kane; and Brendan Hunt, football fan and co-creator of Apple TV phenomenon, Ted Lasso. The series brings in guests from different backgrounds for fascinating conversations around the themes of hatred, chance, failure, perfection and others. This goes hand in hand with Religion of Sports’ underlying principle that the power of sports transcends the arena and connects us all.
“I have such a deep appreciation for the world of sports and the incredible storytellers that I’ve had the privilege of working with and learning from,” said Chopra. “With Religion of Sports’ productions, sports are just the first layer; peeling back and exploring humanity and culture on this podcast has been a career highlight. As Religion of Sports continues to expand our content across multiple platforms, having Tom [Brady] be part of our first venture into audio is indescribable and I can’t wait for listeners to peek into his fascinating world.”
The podcast will be available each Tuesday beginning Nov. 16 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all podcast streaming platforms.
