Tom Brady’s dual roles as a broadcaster and minority owner have attracted scrutiny once again, and the Chicago Bears are in a particularly awkward spot.
Brady is calling the Bears’ Week 3 game against the Dallas Cowboys, and will thus have the opportunity to sit in on production meetings with coach Ben Johnson. That is despite the fact that Brady owns a stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, who host the Bears in Week 4.
Johnson, for his part, is not all that concerned with the perceived conflict of interest.
“I’m really not worried about it,” Johnson said, via Dan Wiederer of The Athletic. “We change week to week with what we do. Schematically, he’s gonna be able to turn on the tape and see what everyone else in the world is seeing right now. It’s not like I’m going to sit down with him and say, ‘Hey! Don’t do this to Caleb Williams! You might get him!’ There are not going to be any trade secrets that are exchanged. I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal, to be honest with you.”
Johnson does not have any real option other than to be okay with the arrangement, since the NFL has made it pretty clear that they have approved what is going on. He may simply have his guard up a bit more when it comes to sharing details with FOX’s broadcast crew.
The Brady controversy flared up again after he was spotted in the coaches’ box during the team’s Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Many argue that it is a major conflict of interest for Brady to be maintaining his FOX role while simultaneously being intimately involved in the Raiders, but the league clearly has no plans to change the setup as things stand.
