Tom Brady’s journey to each of his nine Super Bowls with the New
England Patriots will be the subject of an ESPN series released
next year.
Entitled ”The Man in the Arena: Tom Brady,” the nine-episode
series will include a look from Brady’s perspective at the six NFL
titles and three Super Bowl defeats he was a part of. It should be
a rare opportunity for up-close revelations from the usually
private quarterback who left New England this year after 20 seasons
and now is with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The series will be produced by ESPN, 199 Productions (Brady’s
production company) and Gotham Chopra of Religion of Sports.
”Through the series, we’re defining the key moments and challenges
that were seemingly insurmountable, but through hard work and
perseverance, became career-defining triumphs, in both victory and
defeat,” Brady said.
Brady has won more Super Bowls than anyone and remains a bona fide
NFL star at age 42. Unlike Peyton Manning, his contemporary for
much of his career and the quarterback he is most often compared
to, Brady normally has been reticent to provide behind-the-scenes
information.
Connor Schell, ESPN’s executive vice president for content and one
of the creators of the network’s 30 for 30 series, believes Brady
has a fountain of memories worth the telling.
”To have personal firsthand accounts and an athlete at Tom’s level
who doesn’t often give firsthand accounts can add up to a
remarkable series,” Schell said.
Schell points to Chopra’s storytelling skill as a key factor in
making Brady’s experiences compelling to fans – even the legions
that have made the Patriots generally a despised franchise outside
of the New England base.
”It is really a tribute to Gotham that he was able to earn that
level of trust so Tom is willing to share his stories,” Schell
said, noting that Chopra brought the project to ESPN. ”We love
these projects where these elements come together, and we’re able
to give fans not just a good story but something they haven’t seen
before.”
The episodes are expected to be grounded in Brady’s reflections and
will include voices and outlooks other than his.
Schell added that ESPN is ”thinking about how to evolve the genre
and new ways to tell these stories and new hooks. And the access to
Tom Brady is unique.”
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