NFL forced to delete post after sparking Tom Brady confusion before Dallas Cowboys-Los Angeles Rams preseason game
THE NFL had fans confused with a video of Tom Brady arriving at the Los Angeles Rams' preseason game with the Dallas Cowboys.
In a now-deleted post, the league's X account suggested that the seven-time Super Bowl champion would be behind the mic for his Fox NFL broadcast debut on Sunday.
But the Rams' 13-12 victory at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California, wasn't even broadcast by Fox.
NFL Network televised the game as a simulcast of the local Rams broadcast featuring Andrew Siciliano, Mina Kimes, and Andrew Whitworth in the commentators' booth.
The blunder didn't go unnoticed on social media.
"Dang why," one NFL fan wrote.
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"Baited TB12 fans to get NFL+," another added.
"Listening to Tom and Peyton [Manning] break down games would almost make me watch NFL games again," a third said.
Cowboys reporter Nick Harris later reported that Brady, 47, showed up for a "test run" with the Fox crew.
The ex-New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback signed a 10-year, $375 million deal with the network.
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He will be part of the NFL broadcast A-team alongside Kevin Burkhardt, replacing Greg Olsen as the top game analyst.
Brady is set to make his official commentary debut during the Week 1 clash between the Cowboys and Cleveland Browns.
And he hopes to be a major asset to the Fox crew.
"I believe I can provide a pretty unique perspective that I think a lot of people will really like," the retired quarterback told Front Office Sports earlier this year.
"It’s going to be a lot of hard work. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
“It’s always about challenging yourself to grow in different areas. And this is certainly one way that I’m doing it."
The Tom Brady domino effect
Tom Brady will take his seat in Fox's top NFL announce team alongside Kevin Burkhardt.
And his arrival at the network has set off a domino effect with every other announcer moving down one spot.
That means Fox's NFL coverage in 2024 will feature entirely new broadcast pairings.
Greg Olsen, who previously worked alongside Burkhardt, will now be part of the No. 2 announce team with Joe Davis.
The other Fox pairings for 2024 are:
- Adam Amin-Mark Sanchez
- Kenny Albert-Jon Vilma
- Kevin Kugler-Daryl Johnston
- Chris Myers-Mark Schlereth
In another interview on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Brady said his mindset as a broadcaster would be different than the one he embraced during his playing days.
"There are definitely parts of me that are hyper-competitive – certainly they were as a player and as an athlete," he said.
"I loved that competition, I relished that competition daily.
"I didn't give a s**t if it was practice, if it was a game, if it was ping-pong, if we were playing trashketball in the locker room. I wanted to win.
"There's other parts where I feel like I have matured a little bit and I don’t necessarily have to be absolutely competitive at everything.
"It's a little more selective... Certainly, as a broadcaster, I don't think for me it's about competition.
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"I think for me, it's about, 'Did I put everything I could into it? Did I give the fans everything that they tuned in for?'
"That's really how I'll end up gauging myself."