BroBible
Last season marked Tom Brady’s first year in the broadcast booth for Fox, but his minority stake in the Raiders ended up being the source of some headaches. However, the NFL has decided to make it a bit easier for him to do his job this season after getting rid of one of the rules it put in place.
Tom Brady was still playing for the Buccaneers when he guaranteed he’d have a job waiting for him whenever he decided to hang up his cleats courtesy of Fox, which offered him a 10-year, $375 million deal to serve as an analyst after he wrapped up his legendary NFL career.
In 2023, he retired for the second time (or for good) following the conclusion of his 23rd season, and in 2024, he joined Kevin Burkhardt in the booth after making his debut as the color commentator for Fox’s lead broadcasting team. However, that new gig also came with some restrictions stemming from his role as a minority owner with a 5% stake in the Las Vegas Raiders.
Thankfully, one of the dumbest ones will be lifted heading into his second season.
Brady’s role as a part-owner led to plenty of (what I personally consider overblown) pearl-clutching concerning potential conflicts of interest, and the NFL decided to take some steps to address those worries.
It would be a bit of a stretch to suggest Fox got what it paid for when you consider Brady was hamstrung by rules that prohibit him from criticizing officials on the air, was banned from attending practices or entering the facilities of other teams, and could not speak with coaches and players during the production meetings where memebrs of the broadcast team gather intel ahead of the game they’re covering.
Those last two restrictions were designed to prevent Brady from passing inside information to the Raiders to give them a potential edge, and it appears the first two will remain in effect this season.
However, The Athletic reports the final one will become a thing of the past, as the outlet spoke with sources who said Brady will be able to attend those production sessions this year. It also notes that Burkhardt and other people who sat in on them last year were allowed to relay the information that was shared to their exiled co-worker, which sort of makes the initial ban seem fairly pointless.
You could argue Brady now has the opportunity to ask questions designed to get the people he talks with to reveal information he could subsequently pass to the Raiders. However, I think it’s a bit absurd to assert he has any real interest in using his broadcasting gig as cover for an espionage operation, and all of the people he’ll be talking to are very aware of his links to the franchise and can adjust their answers accordingly.
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