The Super Bowl LIX matchup is set. The Kansas City Chiefs are one win away from becoming the first NFL team to three-peat as Super Bowl champions, and it will be in a re-match from the big game two years ago, as they’ll be facing off against the Philadelphia Eagles.
While this wasn’t the ideal Super Bowl matchup for most NFL fans who have Chiefs fatigue, these two teams present an infinite amount of storylines for media brands and content creators over the next two weeks.
In addition to this past weekend’s NFL conference championship games, here is the latest news in sports media.
Sports Media Weekend News Roundup
Michael Smith Reportedly in Talks With ESPN on a Return
TV personality Michael Smith, who previously worked at ESPN for 15 years, is reportedly in discussions with executives about making a return to the network according to Front Office Sports.
Smith left ESPN in 2019 and has spent the previous four years co-hosting ‘Brother from Another’ with Michael Holley on Peacock, and has also been a correspondent for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video.
During his ESPN tenure, Smith wore multiple hats as a TV personality, primarily as a reporter and host. Smith’s departure from ESPN came after the network removed him and Jemele Hill from their 6pm EST time slot in hosting SportsCenter.
Tom Brady Earns High Praise for Commentary in NFC Championship
In his first year as the lead color commentator for Fox’s NFL coverage, Tom Brady has shown tremendous growth.
Early in the season, critics believed he didn’t offer enough intriguing insight, rambled for too long, and spoke in too many cliches. Considering he replaced Greg Olsen, who was excellent in this role on Fox’s top broadcasting team, many fans were disappointed with the legendary quarterback’s performance as an analyst.
Brady also has to operate with a lot of restrictions considering his ownership stake in the Raiders, leaving fans to call into question whether he should even be able to be a broadcaster to begin with.
However, as Brady has grown more comfortable in the role, he has gotten remarkably better.
On Sunday, Brady was on the call with Kevin Burkhardt for the Eagles’ 55-23 win over the Commanders in the NFC Championship, and the former Patriots and Buccaneers quarterback drew high praise on X from fans and media members.
Brady is having his best game.
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) January 26, 2025
Unpopular opinion: Tom Brady is really good at broadcasting.
— Jeremy Branham (@JeremyBranham) January 26, 2025
Brady also showed off his sense of humor at one point in the game when the broadcast showed Nick Foles in attendance — the former Eagles quarterback who famously defeated Brady in Super Bowl LII.
.@TomBrady still upset about that Super Bowl against @NickFoles 😂 (via @NFLonFOX)
📺: #WASvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/McNkFUoPaY— NFL (@NFL) January 26, 2025
Former NFL Players Respond to Benjamin Solak’s Criticism of Josh Allen
ESPN’s Benjamin Solak has had a very impressive rise in sports media, working his way towards becoming a prominent NFL analyst at such a young age.
Solak, who formerly worked for The Ringer and The Draft Network prior to joining ESPN, has become a very popular content creator for his ability to analyze the NFL through the lens of both analytics and film review.
Solak, however, faced backlash from former NFL players such as Ryan Fitzpatrick and Mitchell Schwartz for his criticism of Josh Allen on the Bills’ failed fourth down conversion, which cost them the game and sealed another Super Bowl appearance for the Chiefs.
Here's why I think Josh Allen shoulda thrown the swing to Khalil Shakir.
Think the zone/man pre-snap tells got him off Shakir early but that's still your best option. He still makes a great throw to Kincaid that shoulda been caught https://t.co/aAOezZv8oC pic.twitter.com/BKVDvcfdEk
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) January 27, 2025
In his response, Fitzpatrick complimented Solak for his passion and knowledge of the game, but wants Solak and other creators to consider how much easier it is to critique Allen in this spot when you’re sitting at home.
I actually really like your passion and knowledge for the game but sitting in your comfortable swivel chair with the heater on in the house and a clicker in hand makes the game very easy
Having two unblocked, unimpeded defenders believe it or not is pretty difficult to… https://t.co/AC7I9P4zMO
— Ryan Fitzpatrick (@FitzMagic_14) January 27, 2025
For creators and fans, while they should never shy away from fairly criticizing players, sometimes they may underestimate how difficult it is to deliver in certain situations when you don’t have the experience former athletes in the media like Fitzpatrick have for example.
