Tom Brady takes awkward first steps in his transition from the football field to the TV booth

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Tom Brady takes awkward first steps in his transition from the football field to the TV booth

2024-09-09 23:50 Last Updated At：09-10 00:02

Fox Sports is spending $375 million to put Tom Brady in the broadcast booth, and the network wants to make sure everyone knows he's there.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion made his debut as an NFL analyst during the Fox broadcast of the regular-season opener between the Dallas Cowboys and the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. But first came a Brady hype video leading into the pregame show, where the studio team admitted they couldn't help but “fanboy” over their new co-worker.

“You’re a broadcaster, how about that!” play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt said when the camera cut to the booth in Cleveland, where Brady, wearing a coat and tie, made his first live appearance on screen. The former Patriots and Buccaneers quarterback was identified when they cut to the booth as a “7-time Super Bowl champion.”

And that, as the kids say, is a nice flex.

Sideline reporter Erin Andrews made sure to let Dallas coach Mike McCarthy know that Brady had been complimentary of his play calling. Charissa Thompson gave him a couple of shoutouts when she broke in with score updates on the game between Tampa Bay, one of his former teams, and the Washington Commanders.

Burkhardt joked during another on-screen appearance that he paid extra attention to his hair because he knew there would be more shots of the broadcast booth.

“I do what they tell me. I understand that," Brady said with a chuckle. "I’m still a rookie in here.”

To the viewers, that was obvious.

Brady’s commentary was knowledgeable, as expected, but also lacking in personality — no Tony Romo anticipating the next play, no John Madden with his “Boom!” and turducken, not even the quarter-zip sweaters that make Peyton Manning stand out from the dozens or hundreds of other ex-jocks who joined the media when their playing careers were over.

There were awkward laughs, a cringey fist bump with rules analyst Mike Pereira and a lot of calling players by their first names (along with an unnecessarily deferential reference to “Coach McCarthy”). Brady declined to call out Cleveland receiver Amari Cooper when a pass went through his hands in the fourth quarter and made excuses for the Browns while trying to find positives in a dreadful performance.

As one X user posted, “Tom Brady is to broadcasting as Michael Jordan is to baseball.”

(Of course Brady, a sixth-round draft pick who spent his first NFL season as the Patriots' fourth-string quarterback, managed to grow into the quarterbacking thing just fine.)

It didn't help that the game, which Dallas led 27-3 early in the second half, was headed toward a blowout that would challenge even a veteran broadcaster to hold the audience's interest. But that's where Brady was able to deploy his experience as an asset.

“There's plenty of time left in this game,” said the quarterback who famously led the Patriots back from a 28-3 deficit in Super Bowl 51 against Atlanta. “Just the margin of error's slim.”

On one play, Brady called for Deshaun Watson to throw it to an open tight end; the Browns quarterback didn't see it.

Brady played 23 years in the NFL before retiring after the 2022 season as the most decorated player in league history. He signed a 10-year deal with Fox Sports — replacing the well-regarded Greg Olsen as the network's lead analyst. Brady took last year off, a gap that only added to the anticipation over whether he could transfer some of his on-field knowledge and skills to the booth.

A commercial a few minutes before the kickoff featured Brady in his various football uniforms talking to his current self, questioning why he didn’t just take the estimated $450 million he earned in his playing career and “lay on a beach getting fat on pina coladas.”

“What they’re really asking is, 'Why don’t you quit football?’ They don’t understand that you live and breathe for football. Because you’re Tom Freaking Brady,” a succession of helmeted Bradys say. “And our football journey isn’t even close to done.”

“Back to work,” the current Brady says.

With five Super Bowl MVP awards in his seven victories in the NFL title game — six for New England and one for Tampa Bay — Brady established himself as the greatest player in league history. He retired with the career records for wins and playoff wins, passing touchdowns and playoff passing touchdowns, and passing yards and playoff passing yards, among other bests.

And while he couldn't completely avoid controversy in his career — most notably during the two-year Deflategate odyssey that led to a four-game suspension for cheating — Brady rarely made news with anything he said.

Brady’s new career already has seen a setback because his concurrent attempt to purchase a minority share in the Las Vegas Raiders means he won't have the access to team facilities, players and coaches that other broadcasters receive. He also must abide by the league constitution and bylaws that prohibit public criticism of officials and other clubs; he is allowed to broadcast Raiders games.

The much-anticipated debut stole some of the attention from the game between the defending NFC East champion Cowboys, who signed quarterback Dak Prescott to a record-setting four-year, $240 million contract earlier Sunday, and a Browns team that isn't expected to make the playoffs.

As the final 30 seconds ticked off on the Cowboys’ 33-17 victory, Brady and Burkhardt discussed their new partnership as much as the game itself. Back in the studio, Michael Strahan picked Brady — not any of the players — as the day’s biggest winner, and Brady shared some wisdom he got from his fellow athlete-turned-TV personality: “You’re going to wake up tomorrow, on Monday morning, you ain’t going to be sore.”

“That,” Brady said, “I’m very happy about.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Japan celebrates record Emmy wins for 'Shogun'

2024-09-17 09:05 Last Updated At：09:12

TOKYO (AP) — Japan erupted with joy Monday as the samurai series “Shogun” won a record 18 Emmys for its first season.

It took home prizes including Outstanding Drama Series, as star and co-producer Hiroyuki Sanada became the first Japanese actor to win the Emmy for best lead actor in a dramatic series. Co-star Anna Sawai won best actress in a dramatic series, also a first for Japan.

“You did it. You did it. Congratulations,” Takashi Yamazaki, director of ” Godzilla Minus One,” wrote on social media.

People followed the awards live as the wins made national headlines. Entertainment media Oricon proudly reported that a work whose spoken lines were mostly in the Japanese language “made Emmy history.”

“The grand scale of Hollywood combined with the high quality of the production, including costuming, props and mannerisms; the collaboration between the Japanese professional team, headed by producer Sanada, and the local production team; as well as the acting that delivered a strong sense of reality, all came together,” the report said.

Actor Kento Kaku, who starred in the 2024 series "Like a Dragon: Yakuza,” said he was feeling inspired to pursue Hollywood dreams.

“After seeing how cool that was, who’s not going to want to take up the challenge,” he wrote on X.

Actress Tomoko Mariya said she broke into tears the moment Sanada’s win was announced.

“What hardships you must have endured, choosing to leave your entire career behind in Japan and going to America alone. But it has borne fruit,” she wrote, referring to Sanada’s move to Los Angeles 20 years ago.

The accolades for “Shogun” reflect not only the growing diversity in American entertainment, but also the legacy of Japan's “jidaigeki” samurai films, which have influenced directors worldwide.

The first Asian actor to win the Emmy for Best Lead Actor in a Dramatic Series was Lee Jung-jae, for the hit 2022 Korean series “Squid Game.”

Sanada is one of a handful of Japanese actors to land major Hollywood roles, including “The Last Samurai,” released in 2003, and “The 47 Ronin,” starring Keanu Reeves in 2013.

The role Sanada plays in “Shogun” was first portrayed by Toshiro Mifune in the 1980s.

Sanada, who also starred in Yoji Yamada ’s 2002 “Twilight Samurai,” alluded to those who went before him in his acceptance speech.

“I thank all those who supported and kept the legacy of jidaigeki alive,” he said in his speech in Japanese, clutching his trophy.

“The passion and dreams we inherited traveled across the seas and crossed borders.”

Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://x.com/yurikageyama

Tom Brady takes awkward first steps in his transition from the football field to the TV booth

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Tom Brady takes awkward first steps in his transition from the football field to the TV booth

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