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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell downplayed the idea that future Pro Football Hall of Famer Tom Brady’s dual role as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders and FOX Sports’ top NFL analyst creates a serious conflict of interest.
Brady is in the midst of his second season as FOX’s lead analyst. Brady’s broadcasting job allows him the opportunity to have special access to players and coaches — a perk that others who hold minority stakes in teams do not have. Over the past year and a half, Brady’s access has sparked concerns about a conflict of interest.
During Week 2’s matchup between the Raiders and the Los Angeles Chargers, Brady was seen wearing a headset inside the Raiders’ booth.
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Former NFL player Tom Brady on the field before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Las Vegas Raiders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Aug. 26, 2023. (Tim Heitman/Imagn Images)
In a statement, the NFL clarified that Brady’s actions were not in violation of league rules. Brady is “prohibited from going to a team facility for practices or production meetings,” the NFL said. However, the former New England Patriots quarterback is permitted to be present in the coaches’ booth, per the league.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell further addressed the rumblings about Brady’s access during a recent interview with CNBC. “Teams have the right to say whatever they want to. They don’t have to disclose any information if they think it’s a conflict of interest,” Goodell said.
TOM BRADY CALLS CRITICS OF HIS ROLES AS BOTH RAIDERS OWNER, FOX BROADCASTER ‘PARANOID AND DISTRUSTFUL’
Goodell also noted that teams are not obligated to reveal any information and often hold back in meetings with former players-turned-broadcasters, considering the close ties they may still have with their former teams.
“Teams don’t need to say anything. Sometimes they don’t say anything to somebody who’s not [a minority owner]. We get a lot of former players that are in [broadcast meetings] that are close to their former teams. I think our teams are pretty smart about saying, ‘I’m not sharing something with him.’”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (L) presents New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (R) with the Pete Rozelle Trophy as Super Bowl LI most valuable player at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, on Feb. 6, 2017. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
Goodell added that there are protocols that safeguard Brady from being privy to anything that could give the Raiders an unfair edge.
“Where’s the conflict?” Goodell said. “He’s not hanging around in the facilities. We don’t allow that.”
In Brady’s debut season in the broadcast booth, he was barred from attending the production meetings that included a given game’s broadcast crew and the head coaches and some players from both sides of the matchup. The league decided to loosen some of those restrictions for the 2025 season. He is now allowed to participate in those meetings, albeit from a remote setting.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell looks on during a press conference at Caesars Superdome on Feb. 3, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana, ahead of the NFL Super Bowl LIX football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)
On Wednesday, the seven-time Super Bowl winner pushed back against discussions questioning whether his role as a Raiders investor and his responsibilities in the broadcast booth could coexist.
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Brady effectively characterized anyone who holds serious concerns that he was privy to a competitive advantage as “paranoid and distrustful.”
“I love football. At its core, it is a game of principles. And with all the success it has given me, I feel I have a moral and ethical duty to the sport; which is why the point where my roles in it intersect is not actually a point of conflict, despite what the paranoid and distrustful might believe. Rather, it’s the place from which my ethical duty emerges: to grow, evolve, and improve the game that has given me everything,” Brady wrote in an entry to his newsletter titled, “Do Your Job.”
Brady, alongside lead FOX NFL voice Kevin Burkhardt, is scheduled to be on the call on Sunday when the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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