Bill Belichick: Tom Brady Was 'Great' in Fox NFL Debut amid Mixed Reviews from Fans

Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick wasn't among Tom Brady's critics after the retired quarterback made his broadcasting debut for Fox Sports on Sunday.

"I thought Tom was great," he said at the 10:19 mark of the Let's Go! podcast. "I think that he had a lot better day when Dallas went to Cleveland than I had in my first game in Cleveland when Dallas came in. ... I thought Tom did great. I thought he brought up a lot of great points in the game. Certainly the number of times Cleveland went backwards he continued to highlight."

Brady was in the booth alongside Kevin Burkhardt for the Dallas Cowboys' 33-17 win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 1.

Opinions of Brady are inevitably colored by both his sizable legacy on the field and equally massive $375 million contract from Fox. It didn't help that former tight end Greg Olsen emerged as a fully capable No. 1 analyst for the broadcaster during the 2023 season.

Not surprisingly, fans were a little split on the seven-time Super Bowl champion. While some were overly negative and offered mockery, others understood there are growing pains for a retired player working in the booth for the first time.

The 47-year-old even caught some friendly fire from NFL Network's Scott Hanson, who joked about his lack of enthusiasm when the Cowboys were lining up for what would've been a 71-yard field-goal attempt.

In general, the biggest thing you can say about Brady is that he needs to find a way to stand out. Fox is paying him more than $30 million a year for a reason, and it didn't feel like he brought a lot of added value in his first game.

As The Athletic's Richard Deitsch wrote, the surefire Hall of Famer "came off as someone attempting to learn the craft in real time." That's less about Brady and more a reflection of how Fox accelerated his ascent up the broadcast ranks.

For Belichick, there was clearly a lot to like from Brady's analysis and in time more fans may come around to his viewpoint as the Patriots legend gets more and more comfortable in his new role.