In a conference call with about 20 reporters four days before his first Super Bowl call, Tom Brady was asked how he would judge success when it came to his role as a Super Bowl broadcaster: "Obviously there's no scoreboard for us other than kind of how we feel genuinely," he said. "Did we approach the game the right way and were we prepared? Then ultimately it's two things
"Was I very confident in what I said? Did I really enjoy myself? I think if those last two points are 'yes,' then I think we did a good job."
Sunday was Brady's 22nd broadcast but this was the game Brady was hired to do. The company is paying a boatload to be in the Brady business and that includes Tom Brady being associated with your brand, from meeting corporate clients to doing your cable news channel's morning show. Having Brady in the booth for the Super Bowl fits into the historical Fox Sports ethos of going big, as it did when it brought in John Madden to call football in 1994.
But Brady is not Madden, nor is he Troy Aikman. Nor Greg Olsen, for that matter. Not yet, at least.
He has unquestionably improved during the season but he is not a transformative broadcaster right now. On Sunday he provided, in football vernacular, a game manager performance. Nothing spectacular; he covered what he needed to cover.
One of the things that was immediately apparent about the broadcast was the impact of Brady attending production meetings. He referenced those meetings multiple times and it made a difference with his insight. He was critical of a brutal opening drive call on the Eagles when the officials flagged A.J. Brown for pass interference and followed that up with a second criticism of the officials early.
"I've always felt in these games you should let the players play -- it should be decided on the field," Brady said on the Green penalty. "Don't like that call to start the game."
These are things that are expected of broadcasters week by week and why the rules he works with as a Raiders minority owner hurt him. The NFL should end them if they want him at his best.
Brady showed improvement during the year and he has shown in other forums that he has the ability to go next-level analysis as he showed here. His producer, Richie Zyontz, said this week to me "the big improvement for Tom will come between Year One and Year Two." Zyontz is a straight shooter and I have zero doubts Brady will keep improving with more reps.
But Sunday, in a game where Philadelphia opened up a stunning 24-0 first-half lead, we needed more on the how and why, especially how the Eagles made Patrick Mahomes look mortal and destroyed their offensive line. I looked back on my review of Olsen from two years ago and it was filled with Burkhardt and Olsen providing next-level analysis.
First, Olsen is Fox's best NFL game analyst. That's a subjective opinion, but one I think most NFL fans agree with. But more to the point, Olsen adds value to a telecast. As I wrote on the Super Bowl two years ago: "As a broadcaster, you don't control the final result. Some games are incredible. Some games are dogs. Burkhardt and Olsen got a classic for 58 minutes. If they never call another Super Bowl together, they'll be remembered for rising to the quality of this game."
Not using Olsen in some role is the equivalent of when media companies pay people not to work as part of a buyout. They do it for accounting reasons but it's a short-sighted decision for viewers or listeners. In this case, there's no accounting decision. Olsen should have had a significant role somewhere.
Fans were deeply divided about Fox's new scorebug introduced for Super Bowl LIX (Screenshot via The Athletic's Super Bowl live blog)
You might have thought otherwise after watching the pregame feature of an AI version of Johnson traveling through different places of his life and reflecting back on his fortune.
But a Fox Sports spokesperson confirmed to The Athletic on Sunday that it wasn't a formal retirement piece. The thinking from Fox Sports executive producer Brad Zager and Fox NFL Sunday producer Bill Richards was to show appreciation for Johnson in front of massive audience.
Keep in mind Fox's next Super Bowl is 2029 and very likely Johnson could step away by then.
What struck me about this year's pregame show on Fox other than its endless length (just wait until ESPN broadcasts the game) was the studio desk from the intersection of Bourbon and St. Peter Streets over the first couple of hours. The visuals of throngs of people inside the French Quarter was one of the better pregame scenes I've seen from a Super Bowl broadcast. (Sports Video Group explained how the location came together.)
I've always subscribed to the thesis that how the Super Bowl broadcaster performs in the game, specifically the on-air talent, is ultimately how the majority of the viewing public judges that broadcasters for the year.
We certainly saw that with Olsen two years ago. But Fred Gaudelli, the executive producer of NBC's NFL coverage, said networks look at it differently.
"I mean, the public perception might be that," Gaudelli told me. "But that's not going to be Fox's perception. If I were Tom Brady's producer or running a network and he was my lead announcer, I would not be judging him on the Super Bowl in total. I would judge him on start to finish and how I thought he did this year. Did he make the progress that we hoped he would make? But publicly, sure. I mean, look whatever you guys write on Monday, it's going to have a huge sway on the public perception. Publicly, it'll have that type of effect, but I don't think internally it will have that effect at all."
That puts him two behind Jack Buck, who called 17 Super Bowls overall on the radio. Buck's 17 Super Bowls are the most for any play by play person calling the Super Bowl for the main television or audio broadcaster in the U.S. Harlan has no plans to stop broadcasting anytime soon, so he would tie the record on February 14, 2027 at SoFi Stadium.
"When I first got in the business that's what I wanted to do - I wanted to do radio network play by play," he said. "The TV just kind of happened. I'm just so incredibly fortunate. I get to do CBS NFL on Sunday TV and "Monday Night Football" on radio and then work my way through the playoffs to the Super Bowl. Even in my wildest dreams as a young kid, I don't think I could have ever fathomed that I could have reached this level."