NFL teams have every reason to be concerned about potential conflicts of interest involving Tom Brady in his dual roles as a Fox Sports broadcaster and minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Once Tom Brady, the owner, had his 5% stake in the Raiders approved last year, there were scores of stories and drama around what restrictions would be in place for Tom Brady, the announcer. Teams were concerned that Brady would take information learned in production meetings and/or visits to facilities and then deliver those precious insights to the Raiders coaches and players for a competitive advantage.
But for the better part of the year, that drama has largely been an inside baseball kind of story. The teams obviously care, broadcasting aficionados care, but the majority of NFL fans couldn’t be bothered about the finer details of Brady’s production meetings schedule. The conspiracy theories of Brady using his NFL on Fox announcing gig to pry open NFL secrets to help the Las Vegas Raiders were not on the radar of most NFL fans.
And then Tom Brady was shown on national television during a Monday Night Football game with his own version of “If I Did It” for the entire world to see.
Not only was Brady shown in the Raiders’ coaching box with a headset on alongside other staff members, but ESPN’s Peter Schrager gave a detailed sideline report about how he is in active communication with offensive coordinator Chip Kelly about the team’s game plan.
Ironically, the NFL just relaxed some of Brady’s broadcast restrictions before this season. But that will surely have to be revisited upon seeing Brady in the box and knowing that he is helping the team and its coaches.
Case in point – this Sunday Brady will call the Chicago Bears playing the Dallas Cowboys for Fox Sports. The very next week, the Bears play the Raiders. How do you think Ben Johnson and the Bears feel about Brady announcing their game when he is going to be talking and game-planning with Chip Kelly and maybe even consulting with them during the actual game itself?
Up until this point, Brady’s conflict of interest in being a part-owner of the Raiders and an NFL broadcaster has been more hypothetical than anything else. Brady himself has pushed back on some of the narratives and the ideas that he’s not playing it straight as a broadcaster. And truth be told, he’s not waving the silver and black pom poms in the booth or doing anything nefarious as a game analyst that would raise suspicions for the average fan at home. Whether or not he’s worth the $375 million to Fox and actually excels in the role is another story altogether.
But the equation changed for good on Monday, thanks to that image of him wearing a headset in the coaches’ box and the revelation that he is helping the team on a regular basis. This story is now going to become a mainstream NFL issue. ESPN’s Marcus Spears already put the NFL on blast for the obvious conflict of interest on Tuesday’s edition of First Take, saying it compromises the integrity of the league.
The fact that Tom Brady allowed himself to be shown on camera with a headset on Monday Night Football was so brazen that it almost defies belief. So does Kelly’s admission to an ESPN reporter that he is helping with game plans.
Surely, Ben Johnson will be asked about it in the lead-up to this week’s game against the Cowboys, where Brady will be in the booth. Fox Sports will have to comment on what Brady knows and when, and what information he learns that he can then take back to Chip Kelly, Pete Carroll, and the Raiders coaches.
The NFL will be challenged on reducing Brady’s restrictions and whether or not more need to be put in place. So far, the league sees nothing wrong with their first statement on the matter. But Brady himself will be under the microscope now more than ever for any signs that he is doing his broadcasting job to help the team he owns in part.
Maybe this story still won’t resonate with NFL fans until either Brady becomes fully compromised as a broadcaster or the Raiders actually become a winning team. But at the moment, he is not really excelling in either role, and the growing debate makes it more likely that he will ultimately have to choose between one or the other someday. For now, though, it’s up to the other 31 teams to now draw a line in the sand to say that something has to change.
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