Joe Buck Sends Strong Message to Tom Brady Critics After TV Debut

Tom Brady’s first game on Fox Sports was last weekend. The outcome was predictably mixed. Brady wasn’t an immediate success, but he wasn’t so bad that we’re wondering if FOX made a mistake paying him nearly $400 million to join the network.

Still, there was a lot of criticism after Brady called the Dallas Cowboys’ victory over the Cleveland Browns, and Joe Buck didn’t want any of it. Appearing on Monday’s episode of the Michael Kay ShowBuck said it was “extremely unfair” to pass judgment on Brady after just one game.

“I think it’s absolutely impossible to grade somebody and say whether somebody’s going to be good or not after a game,” Buck said. “It’s a tough job. We all do our part. You have to be able to settle in, know what you need to know. … It’s extremely unfair that everybody wants to give their opinion after five seconds. That’s not how it works.”

A good take from the longtime commentator. It’s going to take some time for Brady to get used to it, and there’s not much to take away from his very first game. It wasn’t a stellar start to the season, but over time he’ll get more comfortable and likely improve.

In other words, a work in progress. Buck is clearly hoping some will heed his words and grant Brady some sort of grace period while he makes his first broadcasts.