Tom Brady drew even more scrutiny to himself in his first season calling NFL games for Fox by joining the Las Vegas Raiders ownership prior to last season.
Throughout the year, Brady faced NFL-imposed restrictions and questions about the way his Raiders allegiances could make him biased in the booth or help him gain an advantage over other teams.
Heading into his second season at Fox, the league is loosening those restrictions. Brady will be able to participate remotely in production meetings throughout the week with personnel from each team, but is still not allowed to travel to opposing teams’ facilities.
In an interview with Cris Collinsworth released this week, Brady said interviewing coaches and players directly won’t change a ton for him, adding a touch of pushback toward critics who have accused him of having ulterior motives.
“I am a professional. I was a professional when I played, I’m a professional in this role,” Brady said on The PFF NFL Podcast. “Ultimately, I want to be as prepared as I can be so the broadcast for our viewers is the best as possible.”
As a former star player, Brady knows better than to expect transparent answers to every little question in these meetings. The seven-time Super Bowl champion explained that it will be good for him and his crew at Fox to be aligned throughout the week, but that he won’t get much more out of these sessions than he did last year, when he simply reviewed his colleagues’ work.
“I would listen to press conferences all week anyway,” Brady said. “It’s not like you’re forcing players to answer a question. I’ve always felt like, if I ask a question and he doesn’t want to answer it, no problem. The only thing I want to do is gain insight into the game to help the viewers understand the game a little bit better.”
As for the allegations that Brady might misdirect the audience about his true feelings so as to gain a benefit for Las Vegas, Brady insisted his goal is always to be positive, and he would never “lie” about a game to manipulate public perception.
“I don’t want to be on a broadcast and be negative about people. I want to showcase the great parts about every organization, because I love the NFL, I love the sport,” Brady said. “If I can communicate that in a positive way to the viewer, great. We’re on live television. I’m not going to lie about anything I’m seeing to the audience. That’s the audience that I’m trying to be as raw and unfiltered with as possible.”
The idea of Brady’s bias was always more theoretical than literal. Most would expect a part-owner and team executive to fall back on those allegiances over a broadcasting job. So it’s entirely possible that Brady would allow that perspective to creep into his game commentary without doing so intentionally.
There’s a big difference between a Raiders exec being “raw and unfiltered” calling NFL games and a more independent analyst doing the same.
You don’t have to buy into the idea that, as Brady alluded to, he might talk someone like Ben Johnson up or down in last year’s playoffs to put up a front as Las Vegas interviewed him for their head coaching vacancy. Even if he is as “professional” as he states with the big stuff, Brady is going to generate skepticism around his analysis as long as he maintains a vested interest in one of the 32 NFL teams.