Tom Brady’s broadcast career seems to have already suffered a major setback. Rich Eisen expressed shock over the NFL’s treatment of Brady and explained how the new regulation will leave Brady unable to perform his broadcasting role effectively.
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In 2023, Brady applied to buy a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders. Despite pending approvals, the NFL launched a new set of rules restricting Brady’s access to other teams.
Explaining the NFL’s stand, Eisen revealed that Brady won’t be allowed to “set foot in someone else’s facility,” won’t get any face time with athletes of other teams, and can’t even attend broadcast production meetings:
“These rules are in place now cuz he’s petitioning to be an owner of the Raiders. So as long as these papers are in to try and be an owner they’re already placing these rules on him, which is a major handicap to Brady’s ability to do the job.”
Eisen claims that the rules are there to pacify the “highly secretive and paranoid” team owners who think that Brady’s broadcast access could be misused. However, Eisen was shocked and claimed that even if the Raiders were interested in using Brady to get information on other teams, he wouldn’t agree to it and it’s an insult to his character to think otherwise.
In 2022, Brady signed a record 10-year, $375 million deal to join the Fox network as a broadcaster. The deal kicked in after his retirement and his plans to repeat his NFL success in his new career as a color commentator won’t be possible with the set of regulations applicable to him.
While the majority of the NFL community was shocked by the league’s stand on Brady, Pat McAfee had a unique take on the situation.
McAfee finds a silver lining in Brady’s troubles
While discussing the NFL’s stand on Brady’s role as a possible team owner and a broadcaster, the former punter and ESPN analyst had the opposite reaction to Eisen. McAfee pointed out that Brady can now be a team owner and appear on Fox for game days without putting in the hard work required to do research or attend “4-5 hour production meetings.”
However, McAfee highlighted that Brady probably doesn’t think like that and was looking forward to doing preparations for the game and the rules have thrown a roadblock in his plans.
Insider Adam Schefter was quick to point out that without attending the production meetings it won’t be possible for anyone to cover a live game and he “wouldn’t want to be an analyst for a game” without attending the meetings.
Covering live games requires a lot of research and knowledge of the team’s strategy, coach’s approach, and player-level issues. With the new restriction, it will be very difficult for Brady to appear on TV during game days and do justice to the hefty paycheck he earns.
