Tom Brady will serve as a broadcaster for Fox this year. He also has a pending deal to buy a sizable piece of the Raiders.
Despite the obvious conflict of interest, the league has placed no restrictions on his ability to call games involving the Raiders or their top rivals in the AFC West.
“Right now, Tom’s not an owner of the Raiders, and as we go into this year, Tom’s able to call any game on the schedule,” NFL Executive Vice President, Media Distribution, Hans Schroeder said during a Thursday conference call with reporters.
This implies that, once the deal is done, there could be limits on the games Brady can do.
Brady’s proposed purchase of roughly 5-10 percent of the team has been bogged down by various factors. It’s believed that owner Mark Davis wanted to use equity as compensation for employment of Brady; the league closed that door for all teams last year. Then, the below-market value of the purchase price became a concern.
Multiple reports also have cited Brady’s role on Fox as a reason to keep him from owning part of a team. And for good reason. It’s an obvious problem, even without the deal being done.
Done deal or no deal done, Brady is aligned with the Raiders. He’s waiting for at least 23 other teams to let him in. Despite the transaction not being official, the paperwork has been signed.
It will be interesting to see whether other teams that compete with the Raiders (particularly in the division) will freeze Brady out of practices and production meetings.
Chris Simms has said on PFT Live that when his father, Phil, was first calling games, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan objected to his presence at practice given Phil’s connection to Bill Parcells, who by then was coaching the Jets. That’s a far more tenuous connection than Brady has with the Raiders, even without the rest of the owners waving the magic wand and shouting Oligarchis Joinus!
