Tom Brady
Age: 38
League: NFL
Title: Vice president, content, NFL Media
Where born: Omaha, Neb.
Education: Duke University (B.S., biological anthropology and anatomy)
Family: Wife, Heather; children, Tyler (4) and Alexa (3)
Cause supported: In Defense of Animals.
Most thrilling/adventurous thing I've ever done: Hiked alone (no guide) with my wife in the mountains of Tibet.
If I could change jobs with anyone for a day, it would be: Bono (get well soon). Having the ability, charisma and self-awareness to influence positive change on so many parts of this world would be incredible to experience. And to be smooth, fronting one of the coolest rock bands ever, is pretty appealing.
2015 will be a good year if: We teach more fans of the NFL about the past, present and future of the NFL through the platform of Super Bowl 50. Also, if all the members of the South Bay Pony League Diamondbacks (my 4-year-old son’s team) get a hit this year.
My fellow Forty Under 40 class members would be surprised to know that I: Once had a long, curly head of hair. (Oh, the halcyon days when I needed a comb!).
MICHAEL YANOW / NFL
he NFL launched its over-the-top video service NFL Now in August, and it relied on league executive Tom Brady to figure out how to program it. In December, it started a test for Facebook video, and again, the league looked to Brady to come up with the right content.
Content for the league’s social media initiatives? Brady. NFL.com? Brady. NFL Mobile? Brady.
{podcast}
SBJ Podcast:
Forty Under 40 editor Mark Mensheha and Executive Editor Abraham Madkour discuss this year's class, some of the more interesting stories in it and how the selection process works.
League executives look to Brady to figure out what’s the right content for the right platform.
“Tom has been an integral part of building the properties that make up NFL Media,” said Brian Rolapp, NFL executive vice president of media.
Brady joined the NFL in 2003 before the launch of NFL Network and worked in programming for the league. He moved to the digital side in 2007 with the relaunch of NFL.com. Today, Brady has responsibility of the integrated sales team to develop ad sales packages across all platforms. Typically, companies put integrated sales under the ad sales team, but the NFL has Brady’s content group running it.
“We need to create those packages across television and digital,” Brady said. “I’ve seen it go the other way. I’ve seen a lot of sales groups where they want to create packages, then the content people and producers say, ‘The fans don’t really want that, even if a sponsor might.’”
— John Ourand
