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Tom Brady’s juggling act as Raiders owner and TV analyst feels untenable for Fox

Vaseline October 19, 2024

Troy Aikman was annoyed – and honest.

“I don’t like the call at all,” Aikman said.

Aikman, ESPN’s lead analyst for “Monday Night Football,” reacted to a penalty during the most recent game broadcast. With the Buffalo Bills leading 20-17 over the New York Jets and 9:32 left in the third quarter, Buffalo linebacker AJ Epenesa was called for a rough passer penalty on Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a call that even Rodgers described a day later as “a bit ridiculous.”

After the on-field explanation of the call, Russell Yurk, former NFL vice president for instant replay and administration and now ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” rules analyst, chimed in: “Troy, the reason why they have called this situation is because he lands with most or all of his body weight. It looks like he’s trying to get a hand out of the way, but the referee clearly thought he wasn’t trying hard enough to hold that hand.”

Aikman said, even more irritated, “I see. I don’t like it.”

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Last Monday, the flags kept flying, with the teams combining for 22 penalties for 204 yards. With 2:47 left in the final quarter, Aikman had had enough. He spoke to much of the crowd: “It’s like a preseason game,” Aikman said.

Watching Aikman on Monday — he and play-by-play announcer Joe Buck have been sensational this season — he wasn’t shy about talking about the referees. Aikman praised head official Adrian Hill’s crew when they correctly identified the penalties. He would criticize if he thought they had missed something. He was unfiltered, adhering to the implicit agreement a sports television analyst should have with the audience: be true to what you see.

Which brings us to Tom Brady.

On Tuesday, NFL team owners voted unanimously to give Brady co-ownership of the Las Vegas Raiders. Brady and Tom Wagner, the co-founders of Knighthead Capital Management, are said to have purchased about 10 percent of the Raiders.

If Brady was just a future Hall of Famer expanding his connection to the NFL through ownership, it would be a story, but not one with consequences for those watching the product. Brady, as the sports world knows, made his debut in September as Fox’s No. 1 NFL analyst this season alongside play-by-play voice Kevin Burkhardt. Fox has the broadcast rights to this year’s Super Bowl, meaning Brady will call the biggest game of the competition. He is six games into a 10-year, $375 million deal with Fox Corp.

How can anyone broadcast games while having a significant ownership stake in a franchise? Well, the NFL placed restrictions on Brady before the season, including barring him from other teams’ facilities and practices and not being allowed to attend production meetings. But here’s the most important one for the purposes of this column: As an owner, Brady is also not allowed to publicly criticize officials or other teams, and he could be fined or suspended if the league finds him violating that policy.

“Tom has voluntarily complied with the issues we’ve raised in committee since he started broadcasting, so that’s all been resolved,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters on Tuesday. “It is being followed very clearly and everyone seems to be happy with that.”

The NFL confirmed the same Wednesday: “There have been no issues and Tom has been a great addition to the NFL broadcasts,” a league spokesperson said.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones talks with Fox analyst Tom Brady before Dallas’ Week 1 game against the Cleveland Browns, Brady’s regular-season debut as a broadcaster. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)

So that’s the league’s perspective. But what about the viewers? There is an implicit agreement between those who broadcast games and the public: we work for you, the viewer. Now we also live in the real world, and there have long been conflicts of interest in sports media jobs. (Look no further than professional tennis, where coaches also act as on-air analysts.) But predetermined restrictions on what you can say don’t provide a solution. The league has told a No. 1 NFL analyst there is a limit to what he can say as part of the NFL’s constitution and bylaws. Think about what would happen if there was a botched call that cost someone the Super Bowl. Maybe Brady would ignore the restrictions and just go with the officials. Maybe he’ll throw some punches. The point is that the restriction changes everything.

When asked how Fox Sports viewed the broadcast restrictions on Brady and how they felt Brady might be assigned games in Las Vegas, Fox Sports declined comment.

It’s important to note that Brady’s endorsement on Tuesday changes nothing for Fox Sports. They have been working under these guidelines since the start of the season and Fox Sports is pleased with Brady’s development and work. His next assignment is Sunday’s Super Bowl rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers at 4:25 PM ET on Fox.

This week, The Athletics reached out to some sports television producers and all acknowledged that the response from the league and owners is worth watching as Brady gets deeper into the season. Everyone thought Brady could overcome all the production meetings and practice restrictions — coaches and players will contact him — but the restrictions on commentary are the third rail.

The producers also noted something interesting: You’ll have people actively listening, specifically if Brady says something critical of another franchise or officials. The reverse too. People will judge whether he is deliberately avoiding what is in front of him. That’s a mess for everyone.

“You should at least know that you have the freedom to share your views on the civil service,” said a veteran NFL broadcaster who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “These are split-second decisions on the air. You can’t help but wonder if the league will be happy with it.”

I’ve written often in this column about Richie Zyontz and Rich Russo, the lead producer and director of Fox’s No. 1 NFL team. They are widely considered to be as good as it gets in sports production. Brady has improved in his six games — he’s not transformative by any means, and nowhere near Aikman’s level, but certainly a serviceable analyst — and he’s had a lot of good people help him get him to successful spots. He has also received great reviews from behind-the-scenes staffers and on-air colleagues about how he can truly integrate himself as part of a team.

But good production can only overcome so much. Missing production meetings is a minor problem. It’s unconsciously self-censoring things because of the ownership situation. If I had to predict, the restrictions are unsustainable in the long run, and Brady will leave the booth long before the end of the contract.