“You’ve to figure out how to be critical of people, you can’t be a nice guy and good in this business”: Kurt Warner with some words of wisdom for Tom Brady
Kurt Warner shares some strong words for Tom Brady.
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It’s been a blockbuster week for Tom Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champ has confirmed that he will be getting into the broadcasting booth once his career on the field concludes. Brady will join Fox Sports as the lead NFL analyst for the network. He has inked a 10-year deal worth $375 million, this could indicate that we are likely witnessing Tom Brady’s last season as a player on the field.
It comes as no surprise that he has broken salary records and will attract a large number of viewers to the network, however, being an analyst is not as easy as it may sound. It has become the go-to career option for players after retirement now, which means that it is also as competitive of a field as being an NFL player is. Ahead of Brady’s career as an analyst, some notable Hall of Fame QBs turned broadcasters have given their two cents to Tom Brady on how to approach this role.
“You go from being great at something to wondering if you’re ever going to be good at anything else”
Hall of Fame quarterback and now an NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner in an interview with LA Times had some precautions and advice for Tom Brady because let’s face it, it is not easy to go from being an elite QB to learning completely new while you have millions of people watching and listening to every single word of yours.
“You go from being great at something to wondering if you’re ever going to be good at anything else, you have to fight that battle just like anybody else does that goes from one job to another. You have to build your confidence up and figure out who you want to be,” Warner said.
Brady is used to being put on a pedestal as a player, however, a career in the booth will be different as you will be on the other side of things, you will have to be honest and be able to criticize players and coaches without any hesitation. Brady has been a rather diplomatic player for the majority of his NFL career.
In addition to that, you will be surrounded by individuals with differing opinions. “That’s one of the challenges as you get into television: What am I going to be as an analyst? One of the hardest things is, that when you’re a guy like Tom Brady that everybody likes and you want to be liked by people, you have to figure out how to truly analyze and be critical of what’s going on but not be critical of people,” he added.
“Everybody’s afraid of, I don’t want to offend anybody, but I also want to do my job and I want to do it really well. It’s something that I’ve struggled with, because I don’t feel as if I ever attack anybody and say, ‘This person’s terrible.’ But there are times when you go, ‘This isn’t very good. They should do this or that,” Warner added.
Brady has spent the majority of his career as a Patriot under Bill Belichick, during his stint there he was the most diplomatic person and gave the impression of a nice guy who refused to criticize any player or move of his team or the opposition. However, since becoming a Buccaneer, he has come out of his shell, he is more vocal and it feels as though we are seeing a completely new version of the GOAT that was suppressed in the Patriots locker room.
Though Brady will have to criticize players and plays, he will also have to be careful enough to know where to draw the line, Warner said in this matter, “I’ve seen people take it personally. You can’t just be a nice guy and really good in this business. Now, calling games can be different than being an analyst in a studio. But at the same time, you’ve got to be able to be critical… For me, I never attack a person, but I always attack a problem.”
Warner makes sense, as when you are on live television and commentating on games that are the most-watched, you have to be careful about everything that you say, players can take your criticism in a wrong way, which is why rather than targeting a player, it would be wise to comment on the situation that he was faced with. Nevertheless, it will be exciting to see how Brady fares in the booth after his iconic NFL career! Meanwhile, Kurt Warner’s wife is Brenda Warner, a former US Marine Corps corporal.
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Sumedh Joshi
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