Tom Brady is getting to own his cake and eat it, too. And even though his new partners have made it harder to serve both as an owner and a Fox broadcaster, not a single one of them opposed Brady’s bid to have it both ways.
According to Brady’s statement issued on Tuesday night, the vote was unanimous.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the first vote was unanimous. Sometimes, a second vote is taken to send a message of unity, even if there really wasn’t and isn’t.
The fact that Brady opened his statement with that contention shows it was very important to him.
Even though he has never mentioned publicly (as far as we know) the league’s decision to bar him from team facilities, production meetings, and practices given his Fox gig, he’s surely aware of the issue. At some level, he has to understand the argument against trying to be both an owner and someone who ostensibly behaves with objectivity and neutrality as to the league’s 32 teams.
He might not like it, but I’m not going to stop saying he should pick one or the other. Because he should.
Frankly, it’s not as if he’s going to be another John Madden as a broadcaster. Even more frankly, it already looks as if Brady isn’t going to be another Greg Olsen.
Maybe Brady will figure it out on his own. Owners own, coaches coach, players play, broadcasters broadcast. There’s a reason for those bright lines. Brady’s attempt to own part of a team and broadcast games involving other teams blurs if not obliterates those lines.
Or maybe he’ll just do whatever he wants. By all appearances, he always has. And it has pretty much always worked.