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Tom Brady escaped any discipline after seemingly violating the rules he’s expected to abide by while calling games on Fox as a part-owner of the Raiders, and the NFL has shed some more light on the specifics of those restrictions after he criticized a questionable call.
Plenty of NFL players have pivoted to broadcasting after bringing their careers to an end, and this year, Tom Brady became the latest person to join those ranks when he made his debut as a color commentator for NFL games on Fox.
The legendary QB was still playing for the Buccaneers when the network offered him a ten-year, $375 million deal he’d be able to take advantage of whenever he hung up his cleats, and he officially made his debut this season after teaming up with Kevin Burkhardt in the booth.
It’s easy to understand why Fox wanted to secure the talents of one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game, but his new employer did find itself dealing with a minor issue thanks to Brady’s decision to purchase a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders (a 5% share valued at $335 million).
His status as an NFL owner means Brady is subjected to a number of restrictions in his role as a broadcaster, as he’s not allowed to attend practices or pregame production meetings with members of other teams while preparing for games to prevent him from sharing inside information with the franchise he’s financially invested in.
We were also told Brady wouldn’t be allowed to criticize NFL officials on the air, and he appeared to violate that restriction after taking issue with the call that led to Lions DB Brian Branch being ejected from their game against the Packers over a helmet-to-helmet hit on Green Bay WR Bo Melton.
— The Comeback NFL (@TheComebackNFL) November 3, 2024
However, the NFL swiftly confirmed Brady wouldn’t face any punishment for saying “I don’t love that call at all,” and we have some more insight into why that ended up being the case courtesy of a league official who spoke with Sports Business Journal.
Brian McCarthy, who serves as the NFL’s Vice President of Communications, told the outlet Brady didn’t cross the line that’s been set for him, saying:
“The concern would be if Tom was egregiously critical of officiating or called into question the integrity of an official or the crew. That did not occur in this instance.”
As a result, it seems like Brady is on a fairly loose leash, but it will be interesting to see if he ends up crossing what seems to be a somewhat ambiguous threshold at some point in the future.