As the Las Vegas Raiders’ coaching booth came into focus on the screen, the firestorm of comments began.
One day after broadcasting the Kansas City Chiefs at Philadelphia Eagles game, Tom Brady was sitting in the coaches booth of the Raiders — who will play the Kansas City Chiefs and Eagles each later this season.
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Six days before broadcasting the Dallas Cowboys at Chicago Bears game, Brady donned a headset listening to the in-game communication of the Raiders — who will play the Cowboys and Bears later this season.
In all, Brady will broadcast games of six of the Raiders’ regular-season opponents (and seven games’ worth, with two matchups against the Chiefs).
Is this how the NFL wants to uphold the competitive integrity of its games?
It was and is easy to jump to conclusions about Brady living by his own set of rules, which the seven-time Super Bowl champion does not because he’s flouting requests but because the league has agreed to grant him dual allegiances.
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It’s not hyperbolic to say Brady is wading into uncharted territories as Fox’s A-team color analyst and a Raiders limited team owner, just as he waded into uncharted territories with his astounding level of success in 23 seasons as an NFL quarterback.
[Get more Raiders news: Las Vegas team feed]
Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks declined to answer whether there is a conflict of interest when asked Tuesday at a Front Office Sports conference.
“Not gonna answer that,” Shank said. “If there’s a conversation that needs to be had after last night, we’ll have it.”
The NFL, meanwhile, issued a statement.
“There are no policies that prohibit an owner from sitting in the coaches’ booth or wearing a headset during a game,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement to Yahoo Sports and others. “Brady was sitting in the booth in his capacity as a limited partner.
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“All 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.”
The clarification answered some questions but not all. A nuanced debate surrounding potential issues requires an honest definition of the terms and conditions that unfold from Brady’s multiple allegiances.
So Yahoo Sports reached three coaches and six executives from eight different teams to determine: Which of Brady’s activities most concern teams as competitive threats? And do the activities in question give Brady a real competitive advantage, a perception of one or neither?
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‘We are trusting him to have a high degree of integrity and discretion’
League broadcast partners routinely hold production meetings with the teams whose games they’re about to call. Facility visits include practice viewing and meeting with coaches and players. Oftentimes, staffs try to be more honest with the broadcast team than they would at a podium in order to ensure the success of a media rights deal worth $111 billion over 11 years.
The NFL created some guardrails last season when Brady was approved as a limited owner of the Raiders months after his Fox gig began. The NFL barred Brady from participating in meetings and team visits last year.
This year, the league loosened restrictions to allow Brady virtual access.
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“Tom continues to be prohibited from going to a team facility for practices or production meetings,” said McCarthy, the NFL spokesman. “He may attend production meetings remotely but may not attend in person at the team facility or hotel. He may also conduct an interview off site with a player like he did last year a couple times, including for the Super Bowl.
“Of course, as with any production meeting with broadcast teams, it’s up to the club, coach or players to determine what they say in those sessions.”
That last point piques the interest of coaches and executives. Some agree that teams’ close-to-the-vest reports are sufficient to keep Brady from gaining an edge. An NFC assistant coach and high-ranking AFC executive each said they believe production meetings don’t expose proprietary information. Two other assistant coaches said their comfort level giving Brady the access they give other broadcast teams would be impacted by the increased awareness of his Raiders involvement, while an executive said they “would imagine it creates less candor.”
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Sources varied on which element of Brady’s Raiders involvement most concerned them, two executives explicitly saying Brady wearing the Las Vegas headset in game was concerning while a third pointed to ESPN’s description of Brady’s involvement on the broadcast.
“Chip Kelly told us that he talks to Brady two to three times a week, they go through film, they go through the game plan and Brady is a luxury for the coaches,” ESPN’s Peter Schrager said from the “Monday Night Football” sideline. “Who else has an owner who has actually been there and done that?”
Raiders head coach Pete Carroll said the report claiming Brady “meets” with Kelly three times a week to review film was “not accurate” before confirming that “I talk to Tom, Chip talks to Tom regularly.”
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That concerned an NFC executive more than Brady’s headset access.
“I don’t like the idea of him spending time in our building talking to everyone when we are in game plan mode,” the executive said. “To me, we are trusting him to have a high degree of integrity and discretion when it comes to preparing to call our game versus what those conversations with Chip Kelly are going to be in a few weeks …
“The headset makes all that worse, but I feel like even if he is giving input during the game, the real damage would’ve already been done during the week.”
Competitive implications or not, NFL may decide it’s better off with Brady
From a macro lens, the nine sources varied on whether they feared a real competitive disadvantage for teams (sometimes their own) playing the Raiders this season.
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Five sources said they believed there was a real competitive concern, two believed Brady’s Monday night activities looked bad but wouldn’t actually impact games, and two did not believe Brady’s dual roles held conflicting allegiances at all.
The split in opinion could lead the NFL, and teams, to discuss the matter in future forums. The league’s next meeting of team owners is scheduled for late October in New York.
It was at that meeting last October that Brady’s ownership stake was approved in the first place, team owners sending a message that the league office seems to echo: The NFL is better with Tom Brady involved.
Placing any further restrictions on Brady could risk the league’s relationship with one of its best ambassadors, with NFL stakeholders understanding that Brady offering a stronger broadcast is good for their leaders involved.
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Not to mention the coaches and players who want to meet virtually with Brady, many of them eager to learn from a man they believe will teach them more than they teach him. Still others in broadcast meetings have known, if not worked with, Brady for decades. His line to many is not contingent upon his Fox-granted access.
In the imminent future, it will be up to teams, particularly those playing the Raiders, to determine what they’re comfortable sharing with Brady — knowing full well he could repeat the information to Carroll and Kelly without breaking any imposed rules.
“He has great insight, so we’re lucky to have him as an owner,” Carroll said Monday. “We have a tremendous asset.”
The NFL believes it has one, too.