Tom Brady and NFL Aired ‘Ridiculous’ Conflict of Interest Questions, Fox Exec Says

Fox Sports President of Programming and Production Brad Zager said it was “ridiculous” for anyone to question Tom Brady about a perceived conflict of interest as a member of Fox’s broadcast team. Saturday for the divisional round playoff game between the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders.

Brady, who is also a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, is part of the franchise’s coaching decision-making team. Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is a prime candidate.

This, combined with the fact that the NFL has implemented “Brady Rules” that prevent the television analyst from conducting regular pregame broadcast activities, has allowed the Brady microscope to be even more focused.

“To me, to question someone’s integrity to say there’s a conflict of interest is ridiculous and it’s unfortunate,” Zager said. Athletics.

Zager discussed several examples that he said could be described as conflicts of interest in the small world of sports broadcasting. Among them, Zager mentioned ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit. Zager made sure to add that Herbstreit has “earned his place at the top of the industry.” Zager also highlighted Fox’s MLB play-by-play announcer Joe Davis, who is the voice of the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

“Is there a conflict of interest Monday night when Kirk Herbstreit calls Ohio State in the national championship game?” Zager said of Herbstreit, who played at Ohio State. “Was there a conflict of interest when Joe Davis called the Dodgers to the World Series?

“For someone to say there’s a conflict of interest in that Tom Brady can’t go into a booth and call a Lions game because the possibility of a Raiders coaching search could include, maybe people from Detroit, maybe from Washington, maybe from any team – since they haven’t hired anyone yet – calls into question his integrity. It calls into question his professionalism. I don’t understand it on any level.

There is precedent for minority owners calling plays, including Grant Hill, who owns a stake in the Atlanta Hawks and is an analyst for TNT Sports.

Fox Sports is breaking away from its Bill Belichick press approach to talk about Brady’s performance. Prior to Zager’s comments, no Fox Sports executives had been available for interviews all season. Neither does Brady, nor his partner Kevin Burkhardt.

With Fox broadcasting this year’s Super Bowl and with speculation over whether Brady will continue to honor his 10-year, $375 million contract and his perceived conflicts with the Raiders, Fox and Brady’s team are putting out fires. stories that they don’t believe have merit.

On Thursday, Brady’s agent, Don Yee, told Sports Business Journal that Brady will return to the booth next season. On Friday, Zager called Athletics. Next week, Brady will likely address his future, potentially in an appearance with FS1’s Colin Cowherd.

“Based on all the conversations I’ve had with Tom Brady, which is a lot at this point, I expect him to be here for a long, long time,” Zager said.

Brady’s situation is complicated because of his minority stake in the Raiders. Brady is not allowed to participate in pregame production meetings, which deprives him of normal interactions before games. Although Zager emphasized that he thought those meetings were important, he doesn’t think Brady was hurt by not attending.

“I think he always got all the information and prepared at the highest level for every game,” Zager said.

Brady replaced Greg Olsen as Burkhardt’s partner. Two years ago, Burkhardt and Olsen received rave reviews for their Super Bowl performance. In three weeks, it will be Burkhardt and Brady who will set the tone from New Orleans. Zager feels like Brady continues to develop week to week, especially in late, close games.

“From the moment he signed with us, over two years ago, the guy has been the ultimate teammate, completely engaged, responsive throughout preparation to get ready to do the job and throughout the season and everything, week to week at a very high level,” Zager said.

(Photo: Joe Nicholson / Imagn Images)