Jim O’Donnell: When will ‘TV’ Tom Brady zero in on Caleb Williams and the Bears?
AS FAR AS DRAWING EXTRA VIEWERS to an NFL game telecast, does goalpost celebrity really matter?
The short – and long - answer is, “Oh, no-no-no.”
Billy Ray Cyrus and Chris Christie could man a Super Bowl and the audience wouldn't drop one IPA dry gulcher in Cedar City, Utah.
So how badly is Fox Sports overpaying Tom Brady, the network's new $375M analyst?
That's how much the seven-time Big Game champ is reportedly set to receive if he fulfills all 10 seasons of his rookie TV contract.
THAT ANSWER WILL GET a first new test when Brady makes his Fox debut in the late-afternoon window 11 days from now – on Sept. 8.
He'll be alongside Kevin Burkhardt with Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi down below as the Browns host the Cowboys and their freshened $136M wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Other than that Lake Erie windjammer, Brady's only other verified assignment this season is Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, from the Superdome in New Orleans.
Chicago-area Fox watchers will have an engaging day on Sept. 8. At noon Caleb Williams and the Bears are scheduled to kickoff their hard-knockin' new era vs. the visiting Titans.
ALL OF WHICH leaves the question – how soon will Brady's learning broadcast eye gauge Williams' substantial young skill set?
Some informed broadcast decoders are saying much sooner than later. They're circling the Bears-Rams game from Soldier Field on Sept. 29.
Yes, it's another slated noon start. But Fox has only eight of the Bears' initial 16 games this season. So if webmasters don't pounce on that one, choice alternatives don't come along until vs. New England (Nov. 10), Green Bay (Nov. 17) and at San Francisco (Dec. 8).
Or Fox bosses could just bank on Caleb and companions making a deep postseason run all the way to SB 59.
At better Soldier Field tailgates, the learned “ayes” would have it.
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THE NEW NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY ERA of wavering football karma and administrative fogginess takes on unprecedented surrealism Saturday when David Braun and the Wildcats open opposite Miami of Ohio at tiny Martin Stadium (2:30 p.m., BTN, AM-720).
The pop-up lakeside toll booth will serve as the primary home “cattin” grounds for NU in 2024-25 as the pricy rebuild of Ryan Field proceeds to the northwest on Central Avenue in Evanston.
University officials are claiming that Martin - the on-campus home of Northwestern soccer and lacrosse - “can accommodate 15,000 for football.”
Perhaps. But during a visit to the gleaming, high school-caliber crackerbox this week, less than 3,000 seats appeared to be between the goal lines.
(The previous Ryan Field could hold more than 47,000.)
FROM THE HIGHER END ZONE SEATS - and they extend to close to 65 rows - the views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline are spectacular.
Plus, full truth, the purple-tinged rumpus room should afford Braun's Wildcats a significant home-field advantage against Miami, Duke, Eastern Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. November games vs. Ohio State and Illinois will be played at Wrigley Field.
A bigger problem for Braun's second edition is that it has no proven QB. Incumbent mower Brendan Sullivan was among 12 Wildcats to use the transfer portal to big adieu to NU. He's now at Iowa, where prep quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald (Loyola Academy) – son of deposed coach Pat Fitzgerald – is scheduled to bring passing skills and high football IQ next summer.
VISITING TEAMS AT NORTHWESTERN THIS SEASON will reportedly receive an allotment of 2,000 tickets plus comps. That number is not playing well at Wisconsin, where Luke Fickell and the Badgers normally can bring upwards of 20,000 fans to away games within driving distance of Madison.
Because of that, as previously tipped in the Daily Herald, there remains a chance that the Oct. 19 game between NU and Wisconsin may still be moved to Wrigley Field.
That shift would require the cooperation of Craig Counsell and the Cubs. The sooner they are eliminated from playoffs contention, the greater the chance of the Wildcats and Badgers taking the Purple and Red lines south to Addison Street.
IN THE MEANTIME, there is one somewhat saving grace for the Purple Passionate privileged enough to score sweet-suite tickets for games at Martin Field:
There will be beer sales.
That was verboten at the austere, old Ryan Field.
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Thursday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.