Tom Brady’s dual role as NFL broadcaster and minority owner is raising questions for the league.
Brady’s ruthless competitiveness was part of his brilliance, but caused the NFL numerous headaches.
The NFL has spent much of the week addressing Brady’s latest moves, a position it can expect to remain in for the long term.
Even in retirement, Tom Brady is giving the NFL heartburn.
Oh, the league is saying all the right things. It’s fine! just fine! that Brady seems to be a de facto member of the Las Vegas Raiders coaching staff while his job as a FOX analyst gives him behind-the-scenes access to their future opponents. His new flag football tournament in Saudi Arabia that will feature NFL players, and possibly pose a threat to the NFL’s bottom line down the road, is totally cool, too.
But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell must be wondering what black cat he ran over. It’s been a decade since Deflategate, and Goodell is still dealing with Brady and his penchant for stretching the game’s norms and rules like a rubber band.
“This should not happen with him being a commentator of NFL football games,’ ESPN analyst Marcus Spears said Tuesday, referring to Brady sitting in the Raiders coaches’ booth with a headset on during Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
‘It actually questions the integrity of the NFL.”
Well, yes. But when has that ever bothered Brady?
Look, Brady is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. A seven-time Super Bowl champion who ran roughshod over the rest of the NFL in January for two decades. No one squeezed more out of their talent and intellect than Brady.
But part of Brady’s brilliance was his ruthless competitiveness. This is a man who wouldn’t eat tomatoes or mushrooms, for heaven’s sakes, not wanting to mess with the strict diet he believed helped give him an edge. (Strawberries, either, though that turned out to be because he hated their smell.)
And if Brady sometimes played fast and loose with the rules in his zeal to win (Deflategate), or turned a blind eye when others did to his benefit (Spygate), that was somebody else’s problem.
Usually Goodell’s.
The NFL expected to see Tom Brady in the booth. But the coaches’ booth?
When Brady agreed to become FOX’s lead analyst, signing a $375 million, 10-year deal even before he retired, it probably seemed like the ideal scenario to Goodell and the NFL. Brady would remain around the game — yay! ratings! — but would be unlikely to cause any mischief doing one, maybe two games a week.
Before he called his first game, however, Brady reached a deal with Raiders owner Mark Davis to buy a stake in the NFL team.
Just like that, the NFL’s Brady headache was back.
Brady was on good behavior last season, his first calling games for FOX. He abided by the NFL’s restrictions that kept him out of other team’s practice facilities and the production meetings a broadcaster has with the coaches in that week’s game. He didn’t single out the Raiders’ rivals, or the referees, for undue criticism.
“I think he’s serious that he separates these two and he doesn’t put the league or anyone in a position of conflict,” Goodell said at the Super Bowl.
So much so that the NFL lifted some of its restrictions this season. Brady is still barred from other practice facilities, but he can join production meetings remotely. He also can interview players off-site.
“We feel really good about the rules and guidelines and that we have in place for this year,” Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution, said on a conference call with reporters Sept. 2.
How did Brady repay that faith? By parking himself front and center in the Raiders coaches’ booth the first opportunity he got. You can practically picture Goodell blanching when he saw him, thinking “Why can’t you just be like Peyton?”
Raiders coach Pete Carroll tried to downplay Brady’s involvement, but did acknowledge Brady “regularly” talks to him and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
“I mean, we have a tremendous asset,” Carroll said. “… We talk about life and football and whatever it comes. And he has great insight. So we’re lucky to have him as an owner.”
Asset. Interesting word choice there, Pete.
The NFL spent a good part of Tuesday doing damage control, saying in a statement that nothing prohibits an owner from being in the coaches’ box or wearing a headset. Which is fine if you’re an ordinary owner.
Which Brady is not.
Advantage, Brady: TB12’s latest move keeps NFL on its heels
On Sunday, Brady will call the Dallas Cowboys-Chicago Bears game for FOX. The following week, the Bears will be playing Brady’s Raiders.
“I’m really not worried about it,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said Wednesday. “It’s not like I’m going to sit down with (Brady) and say, ‘Hey, don’t do this to Caleb Williams or you might get it!’ Like, there’s not going to be any trade secrets that are going to be exchanged.”
That underestimates Brady’s ability to turn pretty much anything to his advantage.
But the larger issue is that Brady continues to be … an issue.
On the same day he was being an “asset” to the Raiders coaches, Brady announced a three-team flag-football tournament in Saudi Arabia that will begin next year. In addition to Brady and fellow retiree Rob Gronkowski, current NFL players including Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey and CeeDee Lamb are expected to play.
Which meant the NFL had to clarify that, no, this was not a league venture and, yes, players need their team’s approval to participate.
The NFL is used to doing what it wants, when it wants, and getting little pushback. So, too, is Brady, and he’s not going anywhere. If Goodell is smart, he’ll stock up on the aspirin and antacids.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
