Tom Brady Gives Sports Media The News Cycle It Needs

After having their programming schedules torn to shreds by the coronavirus, cable media outlets caught a break Tuesday morning when Tom Brady announced he was leaving the New England Patriots.

According to The Morning Consult, Brady is the most well-known figure in the country’s most popular sport, according to polling in February, with 91 percent of U.S. adults saying they have heard of the six-time Super Bowl champion. Among self-identified sports fans, Brady is even more famous at 96 percent recognition.

Now-retired New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is the next most-recognizable player to take the field last season with 84 percent awareness among all adults and 92 percent among sports fans. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who reportedly reached a deal to return to the team, is No. 3 with 69 percent recognition among all adults and 79 percent among sports fans.

For context, there were 11 skill position players — quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers — in the league last season that at least half of all adults recognize by name.

The poll was conducted Feb. 4-5 among 2,197 U.S. adults. Not every respondent was asked about each player listed in the survey, and responses among the poll’s broader sample and those who identified as sports fans carried respective 4- and 5-point margins of error.