Academy Award winner Matt Damon is close with living legend Tom Brady but, like many others, is also a passionate sports fan eager to see what Brady will and won’t be while serving as Fox’s new lead in-game NFL analyst this coming season.
During a midweek appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” Damon spoke about Brady’s next career step.
“For anyone who knows him off the field, he is the nicest guy,” Damon said about Brady, as shared by Brendon Kleen of Awful Announcing. “…People have been rooting against him. The majority of people tuning in have been rooting against him for years. They’re going to see that, too. And I think it’s impossible not to love that guy once you spend a little bit of time with him. …I’m going to watch whatever games he’s broadcasting because it’s going to be fun.”
It’s hardly a secret that Fox executives are expecting and probably even hoping some fans tune in to watch Brady make his regular-season debut — when the Cleveland Browns host the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 8 — just to see if the seven-time Super Bowl champion will fall flat on his face. Numerous noteworthy media personalities have predicted Brady will be an instant success while working with top play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt.
During the show interview, Damon compared Brady to fellow retired quarterback and lead CBS NFL analyst Tony Romo. Romo was once widely regarded as the best overall national NFL color commentator but lost that spot in power rankings to Fox’s Greg Olsen.
Fox is relegating Olsen to its No. 2 team to make room for Brady.
“I just think of Romo, the year that he came right off of the field and into the booth,” Damon explained. “That level of understanding of the game and the ways, the moves people are putting on each other. Tom understands every single defense. He’s just played against everything for decades. So I can’t wait to hear him. I think he’s going to be just great.”
Following speculation about a second unretirement and the possibility of having to dump Fox to become a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, Brady is now a little over a month away from officially becoming Olsen’s full-time replacement. If Damon and others are correct, fans upset about Olsen’s demotion may have little to say on the morning of Sept. 9.
