Tom Brady's first game as a TV broadcaster showed he really knows football

Tom Brady is famous for winning seven Super Bowls as a quarterback. Now he is trying to make his name as a football broadcaster. On Sunday, Brady called his very first New England Patriots game on Fox TV, sitting alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Unfortunately for Patriots fans, the game itself was a disaster — New England lost to the Green Bay Packers by a score of 45–27.

Brady is in his third season working with Burkhardt in Fox's top NFL broadcast booth. He calls Burkhardt 'K.B.' Brady had never called a Patriots game before this one, and now that he finally has, it did not go the way fans had hoped. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye — who had been named the AFC Offensive Player of the Month for October — struggled badly, throwing three interceptions. The game turned into a long exercise in explaining what went wrong.

Even so, Brady proved he could do exactly that. He was patient and clear whenever he broke down a mistake. After Maye's first interception, Brady stayed quiet for 48 seconds while watching a replay. When the play was shown again on TV, he was ready to explain it. He pointed out that receiver Mack Hollins stopped his route early, which caused confusion between him and Maye.

Brady also gave credit where it was due when things went right. Maye did throw three touchdown passes, and on those plays Brady was quick to praise offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels for the smart play designs. After a 36-yard completion, Brady noted that McDaniels builds the offense around Maye's ability to move outside the pocket — something Brady himself could not do as well during his own time in New England. Brady even poked fun at himself about it, saying the defensive line used to 'bear down on the middle of the pocket' when he was the quarterback because they knew he wasn't going anywhere.

Brady has a habit of reacting to big plays before viewers even know what happened. On the first interception, he yelped 'Oh!' before the Packers defender caught the ball. He did the same thing on Maye's third interception. It was quick and sharp, and he managed to do it without talking over Burkhardt's call — a sign that he is getting more comfortable in the booth.

Brady is not perfect as a broadcaster. He sometimes mixes up his tenses and trips over singular and plural words. He used an unusual phrase to describe how Maye should have thrown one pass, and viewers were left scratching their heads. When sideline reporter Erin Andrews was praised by Burkhardt for calling her 300th career game, Brady said he was sending her a virtual hug — then added that they had already hugged before the game, which was a strange thing to mention on air.

Brady also joked about his own habit of swearing on the broadcast. When he was shown signing a special football card made to celebrate his return to Gillette Stadium, he laughed and said, 'I'm glad there's no statistics on the back showing how many times I've cursed on air this year.' It got a laugh, and it showed Brady is aware of his rough edges as a broadcaster.

As the game wound down, Burkhardt asked Brady for his honest take on the Patriots as a team this season. Brady gave a thoughtful, balanced answer. He said the team has played well for about half the season and poorly for the other half. 'Right now, [they're] just inconsistent,' he said. He asked the key question: will the Patriots be the team that is careless with the ball, or the team that protects it and makes things hard for the opponent? That kind of clear thinking impressed a lot of people watching at home — and it makes fans want to hear Brady in the booth again soon.