Speaking to media at the NFL Pro Bowl Games one legend of the game spoke about another as Peyton Manning commented on Tom Brady’s future in media.
It happens every year whether it’s from a Tampa Bay Buccaneers player or any other team, someone takes exception with how the media covers the NFL and those actively chasing greatness within it.
Whether it’s a beat reporter who puts out something in haste or that’s incorrect, the writer that misrepresents a quote to make something seem like something its not, or the broadcaster who takes an unfair approach to covering a player or play, someone inevitably crosses a line and players react.
Last year, former Buccaneers running back Giovanni Bernard was at the center of one such moment as his reaction to being surrounded by beat reporters after appearing to mess up a critical special teams play led to his wondering why the group chose that moment – one of the lowest in his career – to suddenly talk to him.
Tampa Bay media isn’t alone, however, but when it’s a former player making the misstep, that tends to garner a little more attention.
Which makes former Bucs quarterback Tom Brady’s entry to the media world a little more interesting. Not just because he’s doing something he’s never done before, but because he’s also a man whose every word seems to be quoted and reported on regardless of the medium it’s delivered through.
“Tom actually did reach out to me recently and had some questions, and I said, ‘I’m not sure what Eli (Manning) and I do is really the same as what you’re about to do.’ I know he’s spent time with Chris Collinsworth and some of the other commentators that do it the traditional way,” Peyton Manning said during a media scrum at the Pro Bowl Games. “Look, Tom’s an extremely hard worker, always has been, so I have no doubt he’ll take that same work ethic to the broadcasting job and work hard it. And Kevin Burkhardt has been one of the top play-by-play guys out there so he’s got a great teammate already. I think he’ll do a great job.”
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) shake hands after the game in the AFC Championship football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
The Manning brothers host a wildly popular Manning Cast version of the Monday Night Football broadcast during the NFL season that has brilliantly blended the world of media reporting with insight from former players and a watch-party type of atmosphere.
That atmosphere allows viewers to feel a bit more relaxed, and almost like they’re hanging out with friends during the game than anything else, but it has also allowed the duo to be a little more free with their analysis and opinions while escaping major faux pas or accusations of crossing a line in their commentary.
Of course, that’s not the only concern that may plague a new reporter.
The flow of the game and the broadcast within it relies on a rapport between the play-by-play announcer and color commentator that can’t be forced.
And the prospect of Brady having to show a little more personality than he perhaps has in the past is one that have many wondering if he has enough of it to survive on one of the top broadcast teams in the business.
Brady has always been strictly in control of the messaging surrounding his brand, but in the fast paced world of NFL football broadcasting some wonder if that need to keep his grip will stifle his ability to really connect with the viewers.
For the first time in Brady’s football life he has to worry about the perception of his job performance more than the actual execution of it. But one thing still feeds the other, and good, bad, or indifferent, it’s going to be must-see TV next fall.
