NFL Red Zone host apologizes to Tom Brady for ‘unfair’ shot at football legend’s broadcast debut

Tom Brady‘s first game as a broadcaster was under intense scrutiny from everyone across the sports world – including his colleagues on television.

Scott Hanson is the host of NFL Network’s ‘RedZone’ coverage – a whip-around channel showing highlights and big plays in the moment they happen throughout the league on Sundays.

Hanson cut to Brady’s Dallas Cowboys-Cleveland Browns broadcast at the moment that Dallas kicker Brandon Aubrey was lining up to attempt a 71-yard field goal with four seconds left until halftime. 

Just before Aubrey was ready to get kicking, the Browns called timeout – leading Brady to quip, ‘Maybe everyone’s gonna rethink this one.’

Hanson, live on air, retorted, ‘Oh come on, Brady’s gotta get more excited than that in the booth.’

Tom Brady (R) seen with on-air partner Kevin Burkhardt (L) before the Browns-Cowboys game

On Monday morning, Hanson issued an apology by retweeting an Awful Announcing post about his remark. 

‘This was unfair & inconsiderate by me. Yes, I was saying it tongue in cheek – but I didn’t calculate how it may come across,’ Hanson wrote on Twitter. 

‘@TomBrady, I apologize. I promise I am rooting you on in this new venture!’

Instead of going for the 71-yarder coming out of the timeout, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott – right off agreeing to a record-shattering $240m contract – tossed an incomplete pass to end the half. 

Dallas won the game 33-17 in the contest where criticism was pointed at Brady in the booth.

Fans took to social media to blast the seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback in his on-air debut for stumbling over his words – as well as his awkward encounter with Mike Pereira.

‘Tom Brady ain’t stuttered this much since he told Gisele he got one more year in him,’ one user posted referring to the former signal caller’s decision to un-retire for one more season in the NFL, which came months before his divorce from supermodel Gisele Bundchen. 

‘Maybe someone should have listened to Tom Brady actually say words before dropping $300 million on him,’ another scathingly posted, while another echoed the criticism, adding, ‘Tom Brady can’t seem to form any sentences that have any sort of normal cadence to them.’ 

Tom Brady (L) and Kevin Burkhardt (R) in the booth for the Cowboys-Browns game

‘Tom Brady just said it’s hard to make 10, but really hard to make 20 yards. That’s what $375 million worth of analysis gets you folks,’ one quipped. 

Others echoed the sentiment, suggesting Brady’s analysis was boring with one user writing: ‘Tom Brady needs to be hella interesting to listen to, because his speaking voice isn’t super pleasant to listen to And so far, he is not.’ 

Richard Deitsch, a senior media reporter for The Athletic, offered a fair-handed review of Brady’s performance saying that he sounded like it was his first time in a booth, but that he needed more time to adjust. 

‘Sunday, Brady came off as someone attempting to learn the craft in real time. That’s not a criticism. It’s just reality,’ Deitsch wrote in his column. 

‘He first spoke on-air at 4:23 p.m. ET with the usual scene-setter stuff and was very deliberate over the first quarter. Everything felt a little slow, with him and Burkhardt still finding a conversation rhythm. 

‘Brady got more comfortable as the broadcast continued, and I’d expect that to be the pattern as the season continues.’