Initially, the Associated Press had no comment on the question of whether Raiders owner Tom Brady will continue to hold one of the 50 votes on the various awards that are announced every year at the NFL Honors ceremony. On Friday, we received an email from Nicole Meir, Media Relations Manager for the Associated Press, with a comment on the issue.
“As a credentialed media member who covers the NFL regularly, Tom Brady meets the requirement to vote for the AP NFL awards,” Meir wrote. “We are confident that the integrity of the voting process will be respected by all voters.”
The problem is that Brady’s status as a Raiders owner creates an inherent conflict of interest that necessarily undermines the integrity of the process. What will Brady do when it’s time to pick an offensive rookie of the year? Will he conduct an objective analysis that leads to Jayden Daniels or Bo Nix? Or will Brady’s ballot be skewed for Raiders tight end Brock Bowers?
Whatever he does, there will be questions about how his role as a team owner impacted his role as a voter. It’s better to not cross those two streams.
The mere fact that the NFL has placed significant limitations on Brady’s ability to do his job as a “credentialed media member” is reason enough to remove the vote. He can’t attend practices. He can’t participate in production meetings with teams. He can’t even enter the facilities of any team other than the one he partially owns.
Our guess is that, by next year, Brady won’t hold a vote. It’s possible, if not probable, that the entire question of whether Brady would continue to vote once approved as a Raiders minority owner fell through the cracks. Now that it’s been flagged, the AP might (and should) do something about it next year.
Brady should do something about it now. But this is how it goes in post-standards America. Do what you want, ignore the critics, and wait for them to turn their attention to another topic.
Here’s the ultimate question. Is Brady proceeding in his dual role as team owner and awards voter due to a lack of self-awareness — or does he simply have the hyper-awareness to know he can do whatever the hell he wants?
