It’s rare for an NFL game — and a good one at that — to be overshadowed by who’s in the broadcast booth.
The NFL schedule will be released on Wednesday, but one of the biggest games has already been released. Fox said the Sunday game in Week 1 will be the Dallas Cowboys vs. the Cleveland Browns on September 8 at 4:25 PM ET.
More notable than the game itself is that it will mark Tom Brady’s debut on Fox. The all-time great quarterback signed a monster 10-year, $375 million contract with Fox and will be the network’s top color commentator.
The Brady component of the Cowboys-Browns game is so notable that the NFL allowed its network affiliate to announce that game on Monday, two days before the rest of the schedule.
Brady gets a good first game to broadcast. The Cowboys are coming off an NFC East championship and are always a big draw. The Browns also made the playoffs last season and should be a contender in the AFC North. It’s a riveting game and will take place in the coveted late afternoon. Like Andrew Marchand of The Athletic pointed out, there won’t be an NFL game on CBS to compete with Cowboys-Browns; CBS will broadcast the US Open tennis tournament.
Brady was a hot name for networks as he neared retirement after a storied career. Fox gave him an unprecedented contract in the broadcasting world. We have yet to see and hear Brady broadcast a game, making Fox’s $375 million gamble a big one.
It’s rare for a broadcaster’s debut to be one of the big stories of Week 1, but few have been as anticipated as Brady’s first game.
