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Roger Goodell has come to the defense of Tom Brady.
The NFL commissioner spoke to CNBC Thursday and defended the legendary quarterback-turned-broadcaster over a possible conflict of interest with dual roles as Raiders minority owner and Fox analyst. His comments came a day after Brady wrote in his own weekly newsletter about the potential conflict, saying there is none, unless you’re “blinded by distrust.”
“I love football. At its core it is a game of principles,” Brady wrote. “And with all the success it has given me, I feel I have a moral and ethical duty to the sport; which is why the point where my roles in it intersect is not actually a point of conflict, despite what the paranoid and distrustful might believe. Rather, it’s the place from which my ethical duty emerges: to grow, evolve, and improve the game that has given me everything.”
Brady owns a 5% stake in the Raiders, which was approved by the league’s owners last October. It came a couple years after he signed a 10-year, $375 million contract with Fox to be the network’s top color analyst shortly after he retired.
Goodell downplayed the possible issues, which were put back in the spotlight after Brady was spotted in the coaches booth during the Raiders game against the Chargers on Sept. 15. The NFL relaxed the Brady rules this season, allowing him to virtually attend production meetings after being largely barred from them last season. He is still not allowed in team facilities, which Goodell touched on.
“Teams have the right to say whatever they want,” Goodell told CNBC. “They don’t have to disclose information if they think it’s a conflict of interest. We have a lot of former players in those meetings who are close to their former teams. Our clubs are smart enough to say, ‘I’m not sharing something with him.’”
“Where’s the conflict?” Goodell added. “He’s not hanging around in the facilities. We don’t allow that.”
Raiders coach Pete Carroll defended Brady’s involvement with the team after the Chargers game.
“We have conversations,” Carroll said. “I talk to Tom, Chip talks to Tom regularly. We have a tremendous asset. And we all get along and respect each other. We just talk about life and football. He has great insight, so we’re lucky to have him as an owner.”
Carroll also clarified an ESPN report, which said Brady speaks to offensive coordinator Chip Kelly multiple times throughout the week to help gameplan, raising concerns that he may be giving the coaching staff inside information he learned as a broadcaster. Kelly later walked back his comments.
“I don’t know what was said on the broadcast because we don’t watch the games,” Kelly said. “But Tom’s involvement with me is — I spend a lot of time just talking football with him. But it’s not on a — we don’t talk about game plans.”
Brady is slated to call Sunday’s Eagles-Buccaneers game on Fox.
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