It’s the worst nightmare of every Pittsburgh Steelers fan: Cheering on the black and gold while listening to Tom Brady talk about it. Mute buttons are going to get a workout that day. While not confirmed, there’s a good chance Brady will call at least one Steelers game for Fox’s broadcast this season.
According to the team’s schedule release, the Steelers are slated to play on Fox three times this year with Week 18’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals to be determined: Week 1 at the Atlanta Falcons, Week 15 at the Philadelphia Eagles and Week 16 vs the Baltimore Ravens.
Brady is entering his first year in the booth for the network, inking him to a $375 million contract to tell us how big of a third down the Seahawks have here. We know Brady won’t call the Steelers’ Week 1 game, with him being tabbed to call the Dallas Cowboys-Cleveland Browns opener. That leaves the Eagles and Ravens game as the other two chances for Brady and the Fox A-team to be on the call. Odds are good he’ll be on the mic for one of those games, marquee matchups against contending teams.
The Keystone State storyline of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, strong TV draws with the additional layer of Kenny Pickett seeing his former team. A chance for Brady to discuss his perspective as a quarterback who changed teams and faced his former club, playing the New England Patriots in 2021 as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That’s where the Brady and Pickett similarities end but still, interesting perspective, even if Pickett spends the game holding a clipboard.
Steelers-Ravens might be even more appointment television. Brady played against Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh for years and can share plenty of stories. And it’s a game that figures to have playoff implications. As of now, none of the other games FOX has scheduled that week carries the same gravity as Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
Brady will be heavily examined as an analyst. Fox spent plenty of coin to bring him in and controversially, he’s bumping the popular Greg Olsen to the B-squad. Not to mention the wait to hear Brady calling games that took a year longer than anticipated. But no matter what he says, he won’t receive five stars from Steelers’ fans.
