If Tom Brady wants to be a football analyst for Fox, he has no business being a part-owner of the Raiders.
And if Brady wants to be a part-owner of the Raiders, he has no business being a football analyst for Fox.
Winning seven Super Bowls and having the star power of the sun shouldn’t allow him to do both. The mere appearance of a conflict of interest should make him choose, though Fox and the NFL insist there’s no problem.
Brady will cap his first season in the booth Sunday, when he calls Super Bowl LIX between the Chiefs and Eagles with Kevin Burkhardt (5:30 p.m., Fox 32, 670-AM). By and large, Brady’s rookie year has been fine. But if he’s serious about fulfilling his 10-year, reportedly $375 million contract, he can’t be a team owner on the side.
In fact, the NFL’s restrictions on Brady prove that the league is aware of a potential conflict. He isn’t allowed in other teams’ facilities, and he can’t participate in broadcast production meetings. In those meetings, TV crews meet with coaches and players to glean insights that can be critical for a broadcast. Brady’s colleagues can share information with him.
The league relented for the Super Bowl, allowing Brady in the meetings, but he still couldn’t attend practices. It’s mystifying that the league had to devise rules for a broadcaster’s access. At his Super Bowl news conference Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell downplayed the matter.
“Tom has been incredibly cooperative” Goodell said. “He calls frequently about it and says, ‘Am I doing OK?’ I think he’s serious that he separates the two and doesn’t put the league or anyone in a position of conflict.”
Brady defenders point to college football broadcasts. If former Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit can call the Buckeyes in the national championship game, they say, there’s no reason Brady can’t call an NFL game. That’s hogwash because every football analyst played in college, and it might be inevitable that one calls a game involving his team.
If that analyst has an ounce of credibility in him, he doesn’t work for his alma mater or have a say in its next coach or push recruits there. Brady can do all of that for the Raiders, and he’s still allowed to call a game on Sunday.
That’s what happened three weeks ago, when Brady called the Commanders-Lions divisional playoff game, which included Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, whom Brady coveted to be the Raiders’ head coach. Burkhardt prompted Brady to address the situation on the air, but it was a perfunctory exchange, merely allowing Fox to check that box.
We’ll never know what went through Brady’s mind during the broadcast, but Johnson’s name never came out of his mouth. Not once. It isn’t a leap to think that Brady was so concerned about the appearance of a conflict that he chose to avoid Johnson altogether. That’s bad for viewers.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is the only NFL team owner who has a regular radio show. Let’s say he got the itch to expand his media work and become a TV analyst. As the Cowboys’ general manager, he’s the most hands-on owner in football. How would that go over with a network and Goodell?
Granted, that’s extreme, but play it out. Brady reportedly has been very involved in the Raiders’ football operations. Will that continue in free agency and the draft? Will he be calling games with players he might like to see play for the Raiders? How would that be any different from Jones being in the booth?
Brady didn’t call a Raiders game this season, but not because he’s prohibited. In the ultimate slap to the face of credibility, Brady is allowed to call games involving the team he partly owns. One would hope Fox would avoid that, but it would be out of the network’s control if the game were, say, the Super Bowl.
On a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Brady was asked about his role with the Raiders, who are owned by Mark Davis. Like Goodell, he downplayed it.
“I think my ownership interest in the Raiders is just much more of a behind-the-scenes-type role,” Brady said, “and I’m there to support the team and the leadership and the overall vision for the success.”
It sounds like Brady’s role is a little bigger than that, putting him and the league under constant scrutiny. Brady better become the best football analyst ever because at some point, Fox and the NFL have to wonder if he’s worth the trouble.
Remote patrol
- Alex Cohen will be the backup play-by-play voice for Cubs broadcasts on Marquee Sports Network. Cohen, formerly the lead radio and TV voice of the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, will fill in for Jon “Boog” Sciambi when Sciambi has a conflict or is off. Sciambi also calls “Sunday Night Baseball” for ESPN Radio.
- Weigel Broadcasting’s The U will be the exclusive local TV home of the Sky. WCIU will air at least 30 Sky games this season. Weigel will work with other broadcast companies to expand over-the-air access in TV markets beyond Chicago.
- All Chicago Hounds and Major League Rugby matches will stream live on ESPN+, with a select number airing on ESPN2, as part of a new rights deal. The Hounds’ season opener is Feb. 15 at Houston at 7 p.m.
- The “NFL Icons” special on Bears Hall of Famer Gale Sayers airs at 9 p.m. Friday on MGM+. Sayers’ career is chronicled with rare footage and photos.
Fox’s Super Bowl Sunday schedule
10 a.m. – NFL Films’ Road to the Super Bowl
11 a.m. – The Madden Cruiser: A Bayou adventure with Bill Belichick
Noon – Fox Super Bowl LIX Pregame Show
5:30 p.m. – Super Bowl LIX: Also available on Fox Deportes, Tubi, Telemundo and NFL digital platforms with unauthenticated access.
9 p.m. – Fox Super Bowl LIX Postgame Show: Coverage continues on FS1 at 9:30.