What is the strongest reason for you to watch football? At least, not commentary, we suppose. But we bet the Sunday night game of Dallas Cowboys vs. Cleveland Browns was different. After all, Tom Brady was back as a ‘rookie’!

Yes, that is how the former Patriots legend himself described his debut stint as an NFL commentator with Fox Sports. “I’m still a rookie in here,” the 7x Super Bowl ring winner said in the second quarter. And who had to step aside to make way for him? The top name in the job!

For Brady to be included in the top broadcast team of Fox Sports, it had to demote one of its best commentators, Greg Olsen, to Team B. Earlier in the day, Olsen called the Atlanta Falcons-Pittsburgh Steelers game with Joe Davis. So Brady had the weight of filling in the shoes of Olsen who had called Super Bowl LVII with Kevin Burkhardt in 2023 when the Kansas Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35.

Well, that seemed too heavy for a debutant! The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis summed up the occasion with utmost precision. “Through three drives, Tom Brady sounds like a rookie QB who’s getting used to the speed of the game,” he wrote on X. But come on, Brady has been brought into the team a 10-year, $375 million deal that gives him more than he made over 23 years on the field. Why would the fans want to find him shaky?

They didn’t take these maiden hiccups kindly. And instantly, there were calls to bring Olsen back for the top job. Are you also in this crowd? Then let us take a look at how it went. Probably, you will get some cues that he was not that bad.

Brady was introduced to the viewers early on by play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt. “You’re a broadcaster, how about that!” he asked, bringing Brady to the screen for the first time. “We’re here, it’s been quite a journey but I love being your partner,” Brady replied. Burkhardt got into the business quickly as he brought up the news of Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott signing a four-year, $240 million deal.

Brady is one of the best to comment on that. “Dak signed the largest contract in the history of the NFL. Now he’s got to go out there and earn it. 2023 was his best season. He’s coming off of that but going forward it’s going to be how he goes in the post-season. But today, his challenge is going to be Myles Garrett, the right defensive end for the Cleveland Browns, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. He is one of the rare players who has no weaknesses. Dak is going to be dealing with him all day,” came Brady’s first piece.

Interestingly, it was Brady’s takes on the Browns’ star defensive end and the Cowboys’ Micah Parsons that was a highlight of Monday’s coverage. One can not deny Brady’s capabilities to predict when he pointed out Garrett right before he sacked Prescott. Brady once again did the same with Parsons. Brady pointed out how disruptive he was for Deshaun Watson before the Cowboys edge rusher went on to tip a pass for an interception. The moments indeed show Brady’s potential as a commentator. In fact, some industry leaders did also find the positives.

Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy wrote that it was one of” Brady’s best moments when he circled the threat of Parsons before that interception. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini also had to share positive words about Brady. “Brady is really likable. He’s thoughtful and takes a beat to explain what he is looking at. Sure, there are minor things but all that comes with reps. I was impressed, but not surprised,” she said. On the other hand, NFL Network’s Jane Slater praised Brady for “not pressing and screaming w faux excitement”.

But simultaneously, they pointed out the pitfalls as well. “His cadence was choppy. He confused offensive and defensive players, spoke in cliches, and seemed a step behind technically,” McCarthy opined. Ryan Glasspiegel of The New York Post pointed out a major area of improvement for Brady.

Glasspiegel explained that many times Brady paused mid-sentence as he collected his thoughts. But the smoothest broadcasters would talk in perfectly formed paragraphs, with pauses immaculately pegged to punctuation marks, like a news anchor reading a script. Well, while these people sound like they are in favor of giving Brady some time to find his rhythm, the fans were merciless as they weighed in on Brady’s performance as a commentator.

Bringing in the unique Tom Brady flavor might make the way

One fan did not even put filters on as they wrote: “Tom Brady is the worst announcer I’ve ever heard.” Meanwhile, some fans fondly recalled Greg Olsen.

“I miss Greg Olsen. Tom Brady is boring me,” one fan wrote. Apparently, it seems that to do how Greg did it in 2023 was not the expectation. The expectations were to bring the Brady flair. He failed to deliver the bare minimum.

While another fan went in a little deep with describing the ‘problem’ with Brady’s style of commentating. And that’s: “If this is the best Tom Brady can do, I need to hear the tapes from the trial runs he did this summer as they must have been hilariously bad… Brady is BRUTAL doing color commentary. Bring back Greg Olsen!” Another fan brought up Olsen in a rather twisted manner. “Tom Brady in the booth sounds like Greg Olsen if he took estrogen for a year and had Aspergers,” the fan wrote. So what Brady can do from here?

One remarkable quality of any commentator is the ability to improvise. The inexperienced commentators can find it difficult, especially when a game is not exciting enough to keep both fans and commentators hooked. This is where Brady can focus on. And in fact, he has got it all to excel there. Someone with such a storied career must be a powerhouse of inside stories. For instance, for Brady, it can be how it was like playing for Bill Belichick. Brady did bring out some on his day 1.

“I played with a coach who wasn’t afraid to cuss out players” and talked about the importance of holding players accountable,” Brady told in the fourth quarter. Well, we would love to hear more of that. Alongside, he needs to get rid of cliches. For example, on several occasions, he used the Telestrator to circle Cowboys’ linebacker Micah Parsons before a play and said, “There’s Micah.” But the spectators can easily figure that out with the jersey number.

Looking at these, a fan commented, albeit with some bluntness: “This is an embarrassment. Tom Brady doesn’t know what to say. It’s so bad.” However, one broadcaster who anonymously spoke to Fox Sports is not ready to write him off straightaway.

“Personally, I’d like to see more enthusiasm, humour & personality. He’s lacking right now BUT I’ve heard how dedicated he is to this & have no doubt by mid-season, he’ll more than hit his stride,” the optimistic broadcaster said. Do you think Brady can overcome the rookie hitches to rise to the ranks of Olsen? Let us know in the comments.