The questions about Tom Brady’s dual roles as a Fox Sports NFL analyst and partial owner of the Las Vegas Raiders have intensified after he was shown in the team’s coaching booth with a headset on during a 20-9 loss Monday night to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks on Tuesday sidestepped any such questions about the perception of a possible conflict of interest.
“I鈥檓 not going to answer that one. Good question, but not gonna answer that,鈥 Shanks said when asked during Front Office Sports’ Tuned In event if he could sympathize with Chicago Bears fans who might see a conflict. Brady will be in Dallas on Sunday when the Cowboys host the Bears. The following week, Chicago is at the Raiders.
鈥淚 think if there鈥檚 a conversation that needs to be had after last night, we鈥檒l have it,鈥 Shanks added.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an email to The Associated Press that Brady was sitting in the booth Monday night in his capacity as a Raiders limited partner.
鈥淭here are no policies that prohibit an owner from sitting in the coaches鈥 booth or wearing a headset during a game,” McCarthy said. 鈥淎ll personnel sitting in the booth must abide by policies that prohibit the use of electronic devices other than league-issued equipment such as a Microsoft Surface Tablet for the Sideline Viewing System.”
Raiders coach Pete Carroll said he knew Brady would be in the booth and pointed out that Brady also was in the booth when the Raiders played the San Francisco 49ers in a preseason game on Aug. 16 in Las Vegas.
Carroll said he understands the attention and concerns Monday night’s appearance has generated.
鈥淚 think Tom鈥檚 really tried to honor that strictly with the concerns you鈥檙e talking about,” Carroll said. 鈥淗e is not planning games with us. He is not talking to us about anything other than our conversations that are really random. They鈥檙e not structured. They鈥檙e not set up in any way. He knows. He鈥檚 very respectful of what he does otherwise. He鈥檚 of the opinion he doesn鈥檛 want to be that kind of factor and he鈥檚 not.鈥
The NFL has previously placed restrictions on Brady in his role as a broadcaster, though this season. Brady is now allowed to participate in production meetings with teams ahead of a game, as long as they are conducted virtually or via Zoom. He still isn鈥檛 allowed to watch another team’s practices or set foot in a team鈥檚 training complex.
The Brady rules were put in place because the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback has a 5% ownership stake in the Raiders.
Last season, Brady couldn’t do production meetings until the Super Bowl in New Orleans, when he was allowed to attend meetings with Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles players and coaches. He wasn鈥檛 able to view practices.
Hans Schroeder, the NFL鈥檚 executive vice president of media distribution, said to the AP on Aug. 27 that this year’s adjustments felt like a natural step forward.
Brady still isn’t allowed to be in another team’s facility or hotel. He can conduct an interview offsite with a player, which he did a couple times last season.
Many of the network broadcast crews have done their production meetings with teams virtually, even though some still prefer getting into a city on Fridays to watch the home team and then talk to the visiting team at their hotel the next day.
Brady did not answer a question posed by AP on Monday night about the easing of the broadcast restrictions. Instead, he discussed taking part in a .
Fox Sports analyst Greg Olsen, who also was a speaker at the Front Office Sports event in New York, said it’s up to the teams to decide how to handle production meetings, whether it is with Brady or another broadcast crew.
“There are some teams that are very guarded with their information, and it doesn鈥檛 matter if you鈥檙e an owner of another team or not: They give you very little on the calls. It鈥檚 the minority,” Olsen said. 鈥淭he vast majority of the coaches, especially the ones that you develop a good relationship with, are amazing on these calls. They really give you great insight that does make a difference. Every team can decide how they want to handle those, and whatever factors they place value on, that impacts how they handle them, that鈥檚 their every right to be as forthcoming or not so with the production crews that they want.”
Fox鈥檚 top crew of Brady, Kevin Burkhardt, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi opened the season with the matchup between the Washington Commanders and New York Giants. Both teams face the Raiders later this season, but Commanders coach Dan Quinn didn’t seem fazed by Brady’s dual roles.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unique for sure, but they have a job to do, too, so I get that like that鈥檚 our responsibility to help them give some insights, what it could be, what could be there for the game. So, it鈥檚 really just for this game, like that鈥檚 what I think about,” Quinn said. “But not just because of Tom calling it and his relationship obviously with the Raiders, but really in every game because it鈥檚 just what do you have to do to win this game? You know, the information here wouldn鈥檛 be applied to another team in that way.鈥
Olsen, who was Fox’s top NFL analyst before being supplanted by Brady, said if he had the money to buy a stake in a team, he would do it.
鈥淚鈥檓 not a hater. I say more power to him,鈥 Olsen said. 鈥淎nd if I鈥檓 the Raiders and I have a minority owner like Tom Brady who I have access to and he has the experience and I can pick his brain, you would be silly not to. Why would you not utilize every resource and every aspect of your organization to try to find that slight margin to be the difference between winning and losing the game? So, from the Raiders鈥 perspective, I don鈥檛 blame them for using Tom.鈥
___
AP Sports Writers Stephen Whyno in New York and Mark Anderson in Las Vegas contributed to this story.
___
AP NFL:
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation