Tom Brady's Super Bowl broadcasting debut was a blemish on his big game record

Tom Brady lost three Super Bowls as a quarterback with the New England Patriots, and he's lucky broadcasters do not accrue wins and losses in the same fashion.

Brady's first Super Bowl Sunday as an analyst for Fox Sports was described as the quarterbacking equivalent of "11-for-25 for 178 yards with no touchdowns, but no interceptions as he rode along for the championship" by The Athletic.

Meanwhile, USA Today's Jordan Mendoza wrote that Brady's insights specific to playing in the Super Bowl “became overdone after some time,” and it “felt like there were constant reminders Brady has won seven Super Bowls.”

Newsday's Neil Best declared Brady's debut "a winner," but this was the minority opinion. Joe Posnanski, formerly of Sports Illustrated and currently the author of his eponymous blog, wrote on BlueSky simply, "it is truly startling how bad Tom Brady is at this." UConn basketball announcer Joe D’Ambrosio called Brady's debut “Awful.”

Awful
— Joe D'Ambrosio (@JoeDSports) February 10, 2025

In an interview with the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch, Fox Sports' Super Bowl LIX producer Richie Zyontz said he expected the bulk of Brady's improvement to come between Year 1 and Year 2. Perhaps that's true, but it also felt like an attempt to cushion the inevitable blowback from Brady's performance Sunday.

Perhaps the blowback is unfair for a rookie broadcaster. But between Brady's stature as a celebrity who transcends football, and his massive $375 million contract (that shoved Greg Olsen out of Fox Sports' top analyst chair), no one is giving Brady the same grace afforded an "ordinary rookie" in the booth.

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