An exploration of how Brady’s career explains our complex relationship with sports.

Whether you love him or hate him, you’ve probably spent the last 20 years thinking about Tom Brady. Brady has altered friendships, families, and communities while changing the trajectory of careers and reputations. This 10-part series examines Brady through the eyes of the fans and the haters, those in and out of the arena. As host, Gotham Chopra grapples with these big themes, while grounding the podcast in his journey from a Brady fan to Tom’s friend.

The Podcast: Our podcast explores Brady’s seemingly impossible rise…and rise…and rise…that forced us to rethink, well, everything.

Time Out: Time just seems to move differently in football. There are 60 minutes on the game clock, but the games take three hours to play.

Risky Business: At one point during Super Bowl 51, the Pats had a .02 percent chance of winning the game.

Real Talk: When Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl, social media barely existed. But now Brady is kind of a master.

Football vs. Football: This episode looks at how the NFL and Tom Brady are viewed by the “other” football—AKA soccer.

Post Game: There’s an old saying that pro athletes die twice. First, when their career ends. Second, of course…

Tom Brady Retires: A bonus episode. It’s finally time to talk about Tom Brady’s legacy.

Partners

The Man in the Arena Podcast was co-produced by ESPN and PRX.

Credits

Gotham ChopraHost and Creator
Isaac KestenbaumSenior Producer
Josie HoltzmanSenior Producer
Buffy GorillaProducer
Cody NelsonProducer
Annie SinsabaughProducer
Michael Garofalo Story Editor
Ameeth SankaranExecutive Producer
Adam SchlossmanExecutive Producer
Meghan CoyleAssociate Producer
Devon ManzeAssociate Producer
Iggy MondaAssociate Producer
Jane AckermanFact-Checker
Merritt Jacob Mixer