Tom Brady has improved drastically as an NFL broadcaster. This is how you do it.

On By Littum

game

This Thanksgiving, Tom Brady can be thankful for the 21 NFL games (including playoffs) he will broadcast for FOX before Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans.

He’ll need everyone to prepare for the big game – and if his progression through the first 11 games he’s been behind the mic is any indication, he’ll continue to improve along with the play-by-play announces Kevin Burkhardt.

Burkhardt and Brady will call the dud of the Turkey Day slate as the New York Giants face the Dallas Cowboys (FOX, 4:30 p.m. ET). But before that, USA TODAY Sports reviewed all of Brady’s calls so far and discovered four ways the seven-time Super Bowl champion has improved himself since his shaky Week 1 debut in Cleveland.

(FOX Sports did not comment for this story and has not made Brady or anyone associated with the No. 1 broadcast team available for interviews.)

Less like a tribute on the field, more like a chat by the fireplace

For some reason, Brady announces like he’s still calling plays to his teammates in a pinch. Burkhardt is right next to him, and the tension is engaging in any case. He’s also toned it down as the season has progressed, and the volume definitely makes for a better listen. The crowd noise in the stadium is certainly a factor, but he had to find that he had a microphone to his mouth and that there was no need to shout – even if the enthusiasm seems authentic.

Brady sounded like a composer, inserting staccato notes into his speech pattern at the beginning of the season. The five-time Super Bowl MVP, as he’s gotten more comfortable, has smoothed out his speech.

From dead air to some stream of consciousness

The start of Brady’s broadcasting career was difficult to judge because he didn’t say much. Stretches of silence permeated the entirety of the FOX telecasts in September. Burkhardt would set him up and Brady would either say nothing or too little – and that’s a difficult balance to strike. Producers always tell talent to come in and come out with their score; Brady probably took it too literally in the beginning, but is starting to find a rhythm in that sense. Burkhardt’s patience and willingness to be a good teammate has been key.

Of course, the restrictions the NFL has placed on Brady since he first agreed to buy into the Las Vegas Raiders’ ownership group limit how critical he can be of the refs and the league as a whole. But Brady has offered more of what’s been on his mind during games.

Brings out the ‘Romo’ in him

Thursday will mark the fifth Cowboys game Burkhardt and Brady have called this season (the first since Week 6). Tony Romo, the former Cowboys quarterback and No. 1 analyst for CBS, has become known for the various “oohs” and “ahhs” he will throw in during a broadcast. And Brady certainly has some of that in him—back to the excitement present in his calls. Sometimes it can be distracting, especially when Burkhardt is in the middle of a call. Big plays almost always seem to have a Brady exclamation point.

“Throw it up!” Brady said when Jordan Love rolled out on a free play in the red zone during last week’s San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers contest.

Perhaps it would be better for Brady to save those short bursts for the most dramatic moments.

Balancing game day experiences with what he sees

At the start of the second quarter during last week’s Packers-Niners game, Brady mentioned how the season really started for the New England Patriots after Thanksgiving most years during a conversation about new contenders in the NFL this season.

Broadcasts must do more than the game in front of them. (Blowouts are typically a mature option.) Brady clearly has a wide breadth of knowledge around the league, and he’s certainly shown more of it recently. But a Puck News report said FOX would like to see him talk more about what actually happens on the court.

Few people have more football stories than Brady. People want to hear them. Maybe keeping them close to the vest to start his radio career was a strategic play, but he shouldn’t be afraid to make it personal — and that includes how he played the quarterback position. More high-level quarterback analysis from Brady would serve the telecast well. He is one of the best to play the most important position in sports and could offer something unique on every play if he wanted to. There’s no need to go to the depths of “Peyton-Manning-breaking-it-down-on-the-ManningCast,” but he can do more.