Tom Brady opens up about big challenge of going from playing to broadcasting

Before Tom Brady made his official debut as Fox's new NFL lead in-game analyst earlier this month, fellow former quarterback and current media personality Phil Simms warned that Brady must "talk to fans in their language" and avoid getting "too deep into the X’s and O’s" during broadcasts. 

Brady opened up about that aspect of the job during a Monday appearance on the SiriusXM "Let's Go!" show and podcast he used to co-host alongside award-winning broadcaster Jim Gray. 

"How do we take something really complex, which is football because there’s so many moving parts, and create this simplicity for people? And I think when I’m sitting up there, so much of my commentary as I go on is going to be based on trying to make the game simple for the viewer to understand when we know it’s not simple," Brady explained, as shared by Brandon Contes of Awful Announcing. 

Brady received mixed reviews among fans and analysts for his call of the Week 1 game between the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns. Bill Simmons of The Ringer said he felt Brady was "over-prepared" for that assignment, while others noted that the seven-time Super Bowl champion sounded a bit nervous. 

For what it's worth, Richard Deitsch of The Athletic praised Brady for providing "winning commentary" during this past Sunday's matchup involving the Cowboys and New Orleans Saints. Deitsch did add that viewers didn't "get second-level analysis" from Brady for a second straight week, and Brady acknowledged during Monday's show segment that he has to "continue to find simple ways to describe [certain plays] to people" who are casual football fans and not experts. 

"It’s a challenge for sure," Brady continued. "I definitely feel like a rookie out there. S--- is moving fast when I’m up in the booth. I mean, there’s so many things to look at, but I’ve got a great team with me at Fox and the preparation has been really helpful." 

For a piece published on Sept. 8, The Athletic's Andrew Marchand wrote that "it is sort of endearing that the man considered the greatest NFL player of all time" is a work in progress in the booth. Per ESPN's Todd Archer, Brady will attempt to build upon his Week 2 performance when he and play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt call this coming Sunday's game between the 1-1 Cowboys and 0-2 Baltimore Ravens at Dallas' AT&T Stadium.