Tom Brady is a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, and he also works for Fox as an NFL commentator. That certainly sounds like a major conflict of interest.
Commentators typically get extra access to the teams they’re covering each week, so fans and pundits were alarmed to see Brady sitting in the coaches’ box at a Raiders game earlier this week. Surely, that’s not allowed, right?
“There are no policies that prohibit an owner from sitting in the coaches’ booth or wearing a headset during a game,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told ESPN. “Brady was sitting in the booth in his capacity as a limited partner.”
While Brady is allowed in the coach’s box with a headset, he is “prohibited from going to a team facility for practices or production meetings.” That’s how the NFL attempts to avoid a potential conflict of interest.
So, what does Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton think of all this?
“Someone asked me… I don’t look at that as… It doesn’t concern me,” Payton said last Wednesday. “I understand he’s part ownership with a division opponent. I get that. Then he covers games. He covers NFC games. That doesn’t bother me.”
Fox usually broadcasts NFC games with CBS covering AFC games, but they occasionally swap conference matchups (Denver’s season opener was a Fox game, and the Broncos’ remaining schedule includes two more Fox games). Most of the games on Brady’s commentary schedule are NFC matchups, but he will call AFC vs. NFC games three times this season, and he’ll call a Cincinnati Bengals vs. Buffalo Bills game in Week 14.
So it’s not quite accurate to say Brady only covers NFC games, but it’s clear that Payton — who has agreed to coach at Brady’s flag football tournament in Saudi Arabia — does not have a problem with the retired quarterback co-owning a team while also serving as a commentator for Fox. The NFL allows it (with conditions such as Brady not attending production meetings), so fans can expect Brady’s routine to continue.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: NFL: Sean Payton gives his take on Tom Brady’s conflict of interest
