Even Bill Simmons Was Unimpressed by Tom Brady’s Broadcast Debut

Stephen Douglas | Sep 9, 2024

Tom Brady and Kevin Burkhardt ahead of Brady’s broadcast debut. / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Tom Brady made his NFL broadcast debut on Sunday calling the Cleveland Browns-Dallas Cowboys game on FOX. The reviews were mixed, but it was his first time so there is plenty of opportunity for improvement over the next few months.

Still, Brady is the biggest story in sports media right now so people are lining up to grade his performance. Including Bill Simmons, The Ringer founder and one of Brady's biggest supporters from his time as quarterback of the New England Patriots. On the latest episode of Guess the Lines on the Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons and Cousin Sal Iacono panned Brady's debut.

Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal on Tom Brady’s broadcasting debut pic.twitter.com/wcnlb38J1q

— Stephen Douglas (@Stephen_Douglas) September 9, 2024

"Listen, Collinsworth was one of the big winners today because Tom Brady did the Browns-Cowboys game and I love Tom Brady, he brought me six Super Bowls," Simmons said. "Let's say he was a little raw. To say the least. So when we got to Collinsworth a couple hours later, Collinsworth seemed like he was Bradley Cooper in Limitless compared to Brady. He was spotting everything. He had jokes ready. Brady I was just hoping he could get through sentences. It was a rough debut to say the least."

Quick aside: Collinsworth wasn't perfect either as he was confused about the overtime rules during the Rams-Lions game, proving that even the best announcers make mistakes. Now back to Brady.

In the case of one of Brady's most loyal fans, Simmons thought maybe the GOAT may have been focused on the wrong things. Specifically, that Brady was overprepared and "forgot the part that it's like we're supposed to be hanging out watching a football game with Tom Brady."

Simmons specifically noted Brady not trying to explain what was going wrong with Deshaun Watson over the last few years, which set up Sal for a joke that many people made on Sunday.

"I think he was just happy, like you know, let everyone focus on Deshaun's massive contract, $300-plus million, and not mine."

Good or bad, Brady will continue to be easy fodder for the take machine the entire season.

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