The good news for Tom Brady the Television Analyst is that Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is now free to be hired by Tom Brady the Minority Owner of the Las Vegas Raiders.
It also potentially eliminates, going forward, the glaring conflict of interest at play during Fox’s broadcast of the Washington Commanders’ upset win over the Lions in Saturday’s NFC divisional-round game.
Let’s set the scene: After a season of slow-yet-steady development as Fox’s lead NFL game analyst and special “Brady rules” on air (and off the field) due to his dual role as part-owner of the Raiders, Brady took to his national TV platform on Saturday night, joining Kevin Burkhardt to call the Lions-Commanders game. In an unusual conflict, Brady has also been involved in the Raiders’ search for a new head coach, a short-list of candidates that includes the Lions’ Johnson (reportedly among Brady’s top choices for the job — if not THE top choice.)
The irony is that this was Brady’s best performance yet as a broadcaster.
But the idea that an appearance of a conflict of interest between analyst and owner was “ridiculous” (per Fox Sports’ president of programming and production) doesn’t hold up to how the broadcast actually unfolded and to what Brady said — or didn’t say.
Here are five takeaways from Brady’s night in the booth:
Brady didn’t say the name ‘Ben Johnson’
Brady mentioned Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn multiple times, including a self-deprecating “What do I know?” line after calling for Glenn to stop blitzing, followed by Glenn blitzing the Commanders into a punt. (Perhaps Glenn should have stopped blitzing.)
He mentioned Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, including a glowing 30-second monologue early in the third quarter: “One of the great play callers … he has such great passion and a great work ethic.”
Brady spent nearly a minute talking about how great Kingsbury is. That’s good! Fans want to hear what Brady thinks about Johnson also. But that would be tampering? An unfair advantage? A conflict of interest?
Brady mentioned Bill Belichick. He even name-checked Dan Marino.
But the offensive coordinator of the Lions — coincidentally, a top candidate he is looking to hire as his team’s next head coach — did not get a mention by name. Not during Brady’s pregame analysis. Not when the Lions successfully executed a couple of nifty trick plays: “I guess when you believe in your players so much, you’ll do anything.” Is “you” Dan Campbell or Johnson? It would have been good to hear.
And certainly not when the Lions’ trick plays went sideways.
Brady’s play-by-play partner Burkhardt brought up Johnson’s name several times. Brady was intent on not uttering Johnson’s name during the game.
After a disastrous trick play when Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams threw a brutal interception, Brady was saved from commenting on it by a commercial break.
When the broadcast resumed, to the Fox team’s credit, Burkhardt immediately said: “Ben Johnson dials up a trick play like no one else and they normally work, but that was a disaster.”
Brady: *Silence.*
After a 40-yard run by Austin Ekeler, Burkhardt returned to the decision: “Back to the trick play that failed … ”
Brady: “Tried to run something a little bit gimmicky … and at this point, Williams trying to make a decision, a non-quarterback, trying to throw the ball and read a defense and … not a great time for a trick play.”
But it was, theoretically, a great time to name-check “Ben Johnson,” who called the trick play.
Fans deserved to hear Brady’s direct analysis of Johnson, who was such a key figure in the game.
Burkhardt and Brady talked about Brady’s NFL ownership — sort of
Judge for yourself. Here is the transcript of the exchange coming out of a commercial break with 3:42 to go in the first quarter, Lions ball.
Burkhardt: “You know, Tom, you picked up a little side hustle a couple months ago. You know, buying a minority share of the Raiders. So, you know, just normal type stuff. With that, a cool thing is that you get to be on these interviews and this head-coaching search. And, obviously, we told you Glenn and Ben Johnson have done that. How have you evaluated them?”
Brady: “Just been a great learning experience. What you realize is that the league is full of great potential. What I believe: The resumes, the accolades are all earned by what people do on the field. You earn your opportunities and you do your performance and let that all do the talking. Just as it should be and as I did when I was a player.”
Burkhardt: “Well, they’ve put plenty on tape, no doubt about it.”
As The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand wrote on X on Saturday: “They sorta, kinda addressed this on-air.”
It would have been unreasonable to expect Burkhardt to say something like, “So! I hear you like Ben Johnson to be your next coach for the Raiders!” And Brady to reply: “Yes! He’s amazing!”
However, the real-life exchange came across like people told them they had to say something, but Brady didn’t have to say anything substantive.
Frankly, Brady not mentioning Johnson by name felt far weirder and disconnected than the stilted 35-second discussion about the general topic.
“At the end of every year, it restarts, and that’s the challenge of the NFL.”@TomBrady discusses the difficulty of maintaining a consistent level season after season in the league. pic.twitter.com/W8WVZguaV4
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 19, 2025
This was Brady’s best performance as a broadcaster
Brady might not have ever said “Ben Johnson,” but on the biggest stage of his young broadcasting career, he was very good. It was his best performance in the role yet.
Early on, Brady did a skillful job explaining why Jared Goff and QBs can drop their arm angle when they are throwing out of the pocket versus inside the pocket. He talked about his own experience with throwing sidearm, and the influence of Patrick Mahomes.
Midway through the second quarter, after Goff just barely missed Williams on a long throw: “He’s going for the home run ball. … When you have those plays, those are the long foul balls. Close isn’t good enough in the playoffs. Certainly, you gotta try to take advantage of those when you get ’em.”
More, on the Lions’ struggles: “The challenge I see, KB, there’s just an emotional letdown. When you are the No. 1 seed in the playoffs … you expect to have a lead in the second quarter. Now you’re looking up. You’re down three. The crowd is basically out of it. They feel the anxiousness of the team. … This is where you can’t panic. This is where the mental toughness … has got to show up.”
On the pick six thrown to Quan Martin, Brady let out this little “Ugh.” It was so endearing. He was all of us.
“He (Goff) gets greedy,” Brady said. “You feel when you’re down … When you throw high balls over the middle in zone coverage, you’re asking for trouble.” The analysis was simple yet effective.
After Williams’ TD run off the trick play: “This is crazy! This is video game stuff right here!” It was sincere joy from Brady. It is fair to wonder if he wishes he could have said, “Great call by Ben Johnson,” but held back.
On the flip side, Brady was unafraid to call out the Lions’ defensive struggles. Notably, on a crucial penalty when Detroit had 12 men on the field, Brady was imploring: “Time out! Time out!” Then, “Nope … nope.” Then, a lament: “Oh NO.”
What he said right after that was amazing: “I had a coach for 20 years, Bill Belichick, that said you can’t win till you can keep from losing. And plays like that … playoff football? That’s why you win and lose games in big moments.”
Brady spat out the word “losing.” He was audibly and viscerally disgusted. And it was a great moment.
The ‘Brady Rules’ were in effect
When Brady was approved as an NFL minority owner, part of the deal was that he was forbidden from commenting on officiating during his game broadcasts.
When Goff was smashed in the helmet during the pick six — a play that temporarily knocked him out of the game — Burkhardt and Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira discussed the play and Pereira felt it was a penalty. Brady was silent.
With 6:57 left in the third quarter, Burkhardt brought up the Goff play in the context of another blown call by the officials, the phantom holding on Detroit. Predictably, silence from Brady.
Let’s compare that to the way Troy Aikman teed off on the officials in ESPN’s broadcast of the Texans-Chiefs game when Henry To’oTo’o was called for roughing the passer on Patrick Mahomes:
“Come on,” Aikman said. “I mean, he’s a runner. I could not disagree with that one more. He barely gets hit.”
Fans expect analysts who are ready to confirm for everyone what we’re all seeing.
It is just a small thing, sure, but it becomes a lot bigger if something similar happens in, say, the Super Bowl.
Brady is not a character on the TV series ‘Severance’
Meaning, that Brady can’t “sever” his Raiders ownership self from his TV analyst self.
Don’t tell fans that an appearance of a conflict of interest between Brady the Analyst and Brady the Owner is “ridiculous,” then have Brady never actually say the name of the offensive coordinator of the team with turnover after turnover in a crushing upset loss shootout.
It is better for Brady — and Fox and fans — if the Raiders quickly move to hire Johnson and clear Brady’s schedule for the next few weeks to focus on the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl with no hiring distractions or deflections to get in the way of his commentary.
Brady did a great job in Detroit on Saturday night. Just imagine how good he can be if he can talk freely about all of the people participating in the game.
(Photo: Nick Antaya / Getty Images)