Congratulations on your retirement, Tom Brady. Hopefully you didn’t turn on ESPN to watch First Take after your announcement.
Mike Francesa and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo joined Stephen A. Smith on First Take Wednesday morning for their highly-touted reunion. Brady’s retirement was the dominating topic during First Take’s Mike and the Mad Dog reunion show. But instead of it being a celebration of his career, Francesa tossed some cold water on it.
According to Francesa, Brady wasn’t the best regular season quarterback, he wasn’t the best postseason quarterback, he wasn’t the best Super Bowl quarterback, and he’s not going to be a great analyst. Now that Brady is officially retired from playing – again – his $375 million contract to take over as the lead NFL analyst for Fox is set to kick in. Last year, Brady predicted he would be a “scathing” analyst the way Johnny Miller was for golf. On Wednesday, Francesa offered a scathing prediction for Brady’s pending media career.
“It takes a certain personality and a certain mindset to be good as an analyst. I don’t think he’s gonna be a great analyst. I don’t,” Francesa said on First Take. “He is not going to be bombastic. I don’t think he’s got an oversized personality outside of being Tom Brady. I think he will find other things he likes more than announcing. I just don’t see that connection.
“I never thought Joe Montana was gonna be good at it. I never thought Bill Walsh was gonna be good at it. I don’t think Tom Brady’s gonna be great at it.”
“You have to have a hook and bring something as an analyst and find something that catches with the audience, like [John] Madden did, like Madden changed everything,” Francesa continued. “And Romo has revolutionized everything and everyone’s copying him a little bit now.”
Tony Romo has certainly lost some of his luster as an analyst in recent weeks and years, but he did briefly revolutionize the booth with his energy and ability to predict plays when he joined CBS in 2017. Six years after joining the broadcast booth, however, Romo is scrambling to find a new hook as audiences appear to be growing sick of his act.
Brady’s hook is that he’s Tom Brady, he’s going to be polished, he’s going to look and sound the part. Whether he’s interesting, however, that remains to be seen.
Many football fans and analysts agree with Francesa’s assessment of Brady the analyst. But maybe that’s just what the quarterback needs. No one relishes being counted out or the opportunity to perform with a chip on his shoulder more than Brady. And it’s fitting that he’ll be able to take that mindset into the booth.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com