Geno Smith couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, and No. 6 overall pick Ashton Jeanty continued to struggle in the Las Vegas Raiders’ MNF loss against the Chargers. But the biggest story coming out of the game was about their minority owner, Tom Brady. He was seen in the Raiders’ coaching booth for the first time since joining the franchise.
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He only owns five percent of the Raiders, but obviously, the GOAT cuts a larger-than-life figure within the organization. The issue is that he also has a secondary job as the lead color commentator for Fox’s NFL coverage. And with that job comes unprecedented access to other teams, access no previous NFL owner has ever had to the operations of his opponents.
Generally, the Raiders play on Sundays. That means that Brady, who works the “Game of the Week” for Fox in Sunday’s late afternoon window every week, is not able to attend games. MNF and TNF games seem to be different, however. ESPN analyst Marcus Spears, for one, is not happy with the situation and had some strong words about what he believes this special treatment of Brady means for the league.
“It’s abhorrent for me, for his job. I love it for his team. You’re a five percent owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, sit wherever the hell you wanna sit at during the game… This should not happen with him being a commentator of NFL football games,” Spears said on First Take.
It has been reported that Brady and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly were discussing tactics during Monday night’s game. It also seems that head coach Pete Carroll and Kelly communicate with Brady regularly throughout the week as well.
If this is allowed to continue, Spears says the “integrity” of the league would be in question. He also noted that teams will obviously play things a lot closer to the vest when they’re in a meeting with Tom Brady compared to how they might act with Troy Aikman or Cris Collingsworth. That could factor into why Brady’s Fox broadcasts have been so flat.
“It actually questions the integrity of the NFL. Now, teams have to be smart, and not divulge information when he’s on a call. Because at some point the Raiders are gonna play the teams that he’s sitting in on these meetings… There’s information shared when you have these pre-production meetings for games.”
"It is abhorrent… It actually questions the integrity of the NFL."@mspears96 loves the access Tom Brady has for his team, but hates it for his commentating job 😯 pic.twitter.com/6B9a0HcJKZ
— First Take (@FirstTake) September 16, 2025
The NFL put restrictions on Brady last year, barring him from pre-production meetings because of his connection with the Raiders. However, for some reason, these restrictions were relaxed for this season, and Brady is now allowed to attend those meetings (though he does so via Zoom), which are often very enlightening in terms of team game plans and the like.
Case in point: Brady called the Commanders vs. Giants game in Week 1 for Fox, and his Raiders play them in Week 3. If you believe Brady didn’t gain added insight into Washington’s team during his prep for that game, you’re kidding yourself. And that type of thing is likely to occur a lot more.
Brady is calling Bears vs. Cowboys in Week 4, and the Raiders play the Bears in Week 5. His Raiders play the Chiefs twice after Brady got an inside look at the team ahead of calling that Super Bowl rematch on Sunday.
It seems highly unlikely that other NFL owners were thrilled to watch Brady call a game for Fox on Sunday only to see him inside the coach’s booth during the Monday night game. We foresee more restrictions coming TB12’s way.
