Tom Brady gets critiqued by his ex-coach Bill Belichick after facing criticism over his NFL announcing debut and $375m contract

Bill Belichick is no stranger to critiquing Tom Brady's professional performance, and this week is no different as the two media newcomers broke down Week 1 action in the NFL.

While some were critical of Brady's debut as a color commentator for Fox Sports' broadcast of the Dallas Cowboys' win over the Cleveland Browns, Belichick thought his former quarterback did rather well.

'I thought Tom was great,' said Belichick, who is embarking on a number of new media gigs after leaving the Patriots at the end of last season.

Belichick then referenced his own ill-fated NFL head-coaching debut with the Browns in 1991, which resulted in a 26-14 loss to Jimmy Johnson's Cowboys: '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.'

Explaining that Sunday's one-sided affair wasn't the easiest game to call, the legendary NFL coach credited Brady's criticism of Cleveland and quarterback Deshaun Watson.

'Certainly the number of times Cleveland went backwards he continued to highlight, and that's a problem. … He made some good points about Deshaun hanging in there, even at the end of the game.'

Of course, what Belichick says publicly about Brady and what he says privately could be two different matters entirely. When they were co-workers, the former coach was notoriously complimentary of Brady during press conferences, but the retired quarterback remembers things somewhat differently in private.

'I played for a coach that didn't mind cussing his players out.' Brady joked to broadcast partner Kevin Burkhardt on Sunday in an obvious reference to Belichick.

Veteran NFL and Major League Baseball play-by-play announcer Joe Buck also defended Brady's performance.

'This is a hard job, and we all do our piece of it,' Buck said Monday on The Michael Kay Show. 'We all have to be able to settle in; know what you need to know. I talked to him on Friday, and I don't think anybody's put in more work into being prepared for his first broadcast than Tom did.'

But not everyone was so complimentary to Brady.

Scott Hanson, of NFL's RedZone channel, took aim at Brady's level of enthusiasm when it appeared as though Dallas kicker Brandon Aubrey was lining up to attempt a record 71-yard field goal. The Cowboys would ultimately second guess that decision and call timeout.

'Maybe everyone's gonna rethink this one,' Brady told the Fox audience.

Hanson reacted: 'Oh come on, Brady's gotta get more excited than that in the booth.'

On Monday morning, Hanson issued an apology by retweeting an Awful Announcing post about his remark.

'This was unfair & inconsiderate by me. Yes, I was saying it tongue in cheek – but I didn't calculate how it may come across,' Hanson wrote on X. '@TomBrady, I apologize. I promise I am rooting you on in this new venture!'

Fans took to social media to blast the seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback in his on-air debut for stumbling over his words - as well as his awkward encounter with Mike Pereira.

'Tom Brady ain't stuttered this much since he told Gisele he got one more year in him,' one user posted, referring to the former signal caller's decision to un-retire for one more season in the NFL months before his divorce from supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

'Maybe someone should have listened to Tom Brady actually say words before dropping $300 million on him,' another scathingly posted in reference to the announcer's massive new contract with Fox.