After images of Tom Brady sitting in the Las Vegas Raiders coaches’ booth went viral Monday night, the NFL league office issued a statement Tuesday afternoon affirming Brady is well within his rights as part-owner of the team to be there while also serving as a game broadcaster. Â
“There are no policies that prohibit an owner from sitting in the coaches’ booth or wearing a headset during a game,” a league spokesman said in a statement to CBS Sports. “Brady was sitting in the booth in his capacity as a limited partner.
“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.”
Images of Brady, wearing a headset, in the coaches’ box during the Raiders game against the Chargers sparked controversy and conversation around the league concerning questions of game integrity and competitive fairness. Brady officially became a limited partner of the Raiders when he bought a piece from Mark Davis last year, just around the time he began his career as a game broadcaster for FOX.
The NFL placed restrictions on Brady last year that barred him for practices and team facilities in the days leading up to games. But it did loosen the rules slightly this year to allow Brady to take part in virtual production meetings.
“Tom continues to be prohibited from going to a team facility for practices or production meetings,” the league statement continued. “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.”
The Raiders travel this week to Washington to face the Commanders, who had Brady on the call in Week 1 for their home victory against the Giants.
This week, Brady will be in Chicago to call the Cowboys-Bears game. The following Sunday, the Raiders will host the Bears.
League and team executives CBS Sports contacted Tuesday had varying opinions on the latest Brady conflict. Anecdotally, teams that have the Raiders on their schedule seemed to have a bigger issue with Brady in the coaches’ booth than those who don’t play Las Vegas this season.
“I don’t worry my coach will slip up in a production meeting and give up something he shouldn’t,” said an executive on a team that does not have the Raiders scheduled this season. “If you play the Raiders in a couple weeks and come across Brady, your antenna is going to be up. But (coach) Pete Carroll and (defensive coordinator) Patrick Graham aren’t dumb. They’re going to watch your film.”
One source on a team scheduled to play the Raiders this season called Brady in the coaches’ booth with a headset on “egregious.”
The concerns about the access Brady has to team information as a part owner of the Raiders have been present since last year. A spotlight shined on it late in the year when Brady was on the call for Lions games when his pursuit of then-Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to be the next Raiders coach was well known in league circles.
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Brady nor Davis has been shy about Brady’s involvement with the Raiders. Davis said in December that Brady would have “a huge voice” in the direction of the team. Sources told CBS Sports that Brady was heavily involved in the GM and head coach interviews that resulted in the hires of Carroll and John Spytek.
Because Brady’s position and influence within the Raiders organization has not been a secret to anyone in the league, sources essentially echoed what the league said in its statement: In production meetings, say, or don’t say, whatever you feel necessary.
A PR member for one NFL team said they would advise anyone meeting with Brady who was concerned about competitive inequity to treat any discussion like a press conference.
One executive on a team that doesn’t play the Raiders said they were more concerned about Brady’s influence over personnel than any strategic conflict during a game week.
Their concern was Brady taking seemingly innocuous information and storing it to use in free agency. If a team was developing a young player but had him hidden on the roster, or if a team valued a soon-to-be free agent more than it let on publicly and shared that information with Brady, he could hypothetically use it for the Raiders to outbid the team in free agency or scoop the player up during roster cuts.
“None of the headset stuff scares me because we don’t play the Raiders, but this league is way too paranoid anyway,” the executive said. “But the personnel stuff isn’t time sensitive.”
The NFL has no issue with how Brady is operating as a part-owner, so the onus on what is shared with a key Raiders decision maker sits solely with the 31 opponents.
As one source aptly put it Tuesday: “Is it truly an NFL season if there’s no Brady controversy?”
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