1. I first tuned into Fox’s pregame show between 5:15 and 5:30 p.m. ET, when it was in the middle of a bizarre tribute to Jimmy Johnson. I say bizarre because I thought the entire package was leading up to Johnson announcing his retirement.
But when Curt Menefee asked Johnson if he had a retirement to announce, Johnson just said, “One day at a time.” Apparently, Fox just did the tribute to do the tribute. I’m not sure why that couldn’t have been done at the end of the regular season or much earlier in the network’s never-ending pregame show, but 5:30 p.m. ET on Super Bowl Sunday seemed like a really weird place to highlight one pregame show cast member for no reason.
From the end of the Johnson tribute to kickoff, it was the usual assault of your senses in the lead-up to the actual game. There were people screaming everywhere. (Hello, Jon Hamm and Bradley Cooper.) A Harry Connick Jr. performance. A Lady Gaga performance. The usual roster of anthems. All the stuff to bring in the non-football fan.
Then at 6:30 p.m., we finally got to Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady and the game. The problem with doing this column, as I’ve now said several times, especially on SI Media With Jimmy Traina, is that because he’s Tom Freakin’ Brady and because he’s making $375 million and because his presence bumped Greg Olsen from the top crew and because it’s his first year in the booth and because it’s his first Super Bowl as a rookie broadcaster, we HAVE TO analyze every word he says. But my analysis of Brady in the Super Bowl is the same as it’s been for basically the last few months: He’s fine.
Brady is not great. Brady is not bad. He’s fine. When that’s the case, there’s not much to analyze. But here are some random thoughts I had about Brady and much more during Super Bowl LIX.
• Brady came out strong in the first quarter, voicing his displeasure with an offensive pass interference call on the Eagles’ A.J. Brown and an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Chiefs’ Trent McDuffie.
AJ Brown called for offensive pass interference. Tom Brady hates the call pic.twitter.com/0Ywf22lebZ
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) February 9, 2025
Chiefs now called for unnecessary roughness… 🧐🧐 pic.twitter.com/AB7Lbiv7ND
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) February 10, 2025
• Brady was way too soft on the refs later in the game when they called an unnecessary roughness penalty against the Chiefs on a third-and-26 that gave the Eagles a first down. This was a HUGE call with the game at 17–0. We needed more from Brady here.
Chiefs called for unnecessary roughness for a late hit. pic.twitter.com/p8XELu1onT
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) February 10, 2025
• Brady had a good moment late in the first quarter when he explained how teams need to feel things out in the Super Bowl because they are playing on a neutral field and the game is much longer than a regular season or playoff game.
• Major kudos for the camera shot of Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones dropping to his knees on the sidelines after a completely wide-open DeAndre Hopkins somehow dropped a third-down pass with Kansas City down 17–0. This visual summed up the day.
Chris Jones' reaction to the Hopkins drop 😬 pic.twitter.com/iMxP8xPopi
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) February 10, 2025
• Burkhardt did an excellent job of quickly explaining the NFL’s ridiculous onside kick rules, which prohibit teams from attempting one until the fourth quarter, right after the Chiefs scored to make it 34–6 with 43 seconds left in the third quarter.
• With 1:23 left in the first half and the Eagles up 24–0, Burkhardt and Brady had a great exchange that summed up Philly’s complete dominance over Kansas City:
Burkhardt: If you’re the Chiefs, where do you start?
Brady: Yeah, it’s a great question.
• Piggybacking off that, Menefee had an excellent line to start Fox’s halftime coverage: “Well, forget about a three-peat for now. The Chiefs would take three points.”
Most of these moments came in the first half. I don’t think it’s fair to get overly critical of Burkhardt and Brady in the second half because the game was over after the Chiefs got the ball to start the second half and did nothing.
The only thing that stood out to me in the second half was this bizarre performance from rules analyst Mike Pereira, who, let’s say, didn’t seem overly excited Brady went to him when the game was over.
This is amazing. Peirera had zero interest in discussing this. pic.twitter.com/yc8H1OHMDL
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) February 10, 2025
In summation, Brady was fine. Fox was fine. The game was a disaster and that prevented Fox and Brady from being anything better than fine.
For more on Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl LIX, check out a brand new episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina released Monday with Puck’s John Ourand.
2. One thing that was not fine was Fox’s new scorebug. The reaction to the new scorebug was so bad, I had to make this a separate item instead of including it in item No. 1.
Listen, social media hates EVERYTHING. But there are times when the hate is so deep and widespread that you have to pay attention to it.
After giving Tom Brady $375 million, Fox only had $25 left to spend on a scorebug design. pic.twitter.com/OrcEYPP9Zz
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) February 9, 2025
I think the scorebug would’ve been fine if it were smaller. It’s just too big and bulky. Shrink it down and it’ll be better.
The bigger issue for me is that Fox chooses the Super Bowl to debut the scorebug. It’s the biggest game of the year. It’s the final game of the year. Don’t spring something new and jarring on regular viewers.
But this is a perfect example of why I hate the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is not for the NFL fan. The Super Bowl is for the 70 million people who don’t watch the NFL from September through January.
Fox wants to cater to those people, not the regular fan. So the thinking is, “Let’s change things up and show off our shiny new toy.” Totally unnecessary and annoying.
3. The Super Bowl is such a monstrous TV event that it’s sometimes easy to forget that the game also airs on radio.
But the great Kevin Harlan has been on the call for 15 straight years now for Westwood One, and was as good as ever yesterday. Just listen to these three calls.
Cooper DeJean TO THE HOUSE #FlyEaglesFly #Eagles up 17-0 on the #Chiefs 😲 #SBLIX
— Westwood One Sports (@westwood1sports) February 10, 2025
🗣️: Kevin Harlan & @kurt13warner pic.twitter.com/TzADKMqEH5
Jalen Hurts ➡️ AJ Brown #FlyEaglesFly #Eagles dominated the first half, will it continue?
— Westwood One Sports (@westwood1sports) February 10, 2025
🗣️: Kevin Harlan & @kurt13warner pic.twitter.com/ag8GnpAuhW
Devonta Smith with the long ball! #SBLIX
— Westwood One Sports (@westwood1sports) February 10, 2025
Jalen Hurts with his 3rd TD of the day 💯
🗣️: Kevin Harlan & @kurt13warner pic.twitter.com/aShtyHchgD
4. When it comes to its back pages, the New York Post still has its fastball.
The early backpage: BYEAHUASCA
— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) February 10, 2025
Jets tell Aaron Rodgers they’re moving on from QB in face-to-face meeting
Read: https://t.co/2MOPat0qya pic.twitter.com/NazDjsZ1Pn
5. It was very cool to see this feature on CBS Sunday Morning yesterday.
6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast is an All-Traina Thoughts edition with Sal Licata from WFAN.
This week’s topics include Super Bowl LIX between the Eagles and Chiefs, the Luka Doncic–Anthony Davis trade, a must-watch Saturday Night Live special and my Curb Your Enthusiasm rewatch. In addition, Sal gives a full recap of his recent cataract surgery.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Bill Maher used his “New Rules” segment on Friday to do something I’ve been doing for about three or four years now: Complain about watching football on streaming services.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Brady, Burkhardt and the Scorebug: Reviewing Fox’s Coverage of Super Bowl LIX.
