As Tom Brady prepares for his inaugural Super Bowl as a broadcaster, the NFL is making some notable exceptions. According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand and Nate Taylor, Brady, who serves as Fox’s lead color commentator, will be allowed to attend pre-production meetings with both the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles leading up to Super Bowl LIX on Sunday. This marks a departure from the restrictions imposed during the regular season.
The initial restrictions were implemented due to Brady’s position as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, which prevented him from visiting team facilities or speaking with coaches and players before games—a significant obstacle for his preparation as an analyst. However, The Athletic reports that Brady will have the opportunity to engage with players and coaches for the Super Bowl, although he cannot attend team practices. Notably, his Fox colleagues, including play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt and sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi, will still have access to the practices.
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt indicated that he played an important role in the initial restrictions, stating, “When (Brady) was approved as an owner of the Raiders, there were a lot of discussions internally (among owners) and that ended up being the recommendation of the league office, that it didn’t make sense to have him in the production meetings,” according to The Athletic. “Since he’s doing the game this week, we have no issue with him being in our production meetings. He’ll have the access that any broadcaster would have.”
Despite receiving mixed reviews for his broadcasting debut, Brady’s potential conflicts of interest have been highlighted during the postseason. During the Divisional Round game featuring the Detroit Lions and the Washington Commanders, many pondered how he would cover the Lions, whose coordinators were candidates in the Raiders’ coaching search (the Raiders ultimately hired Pete Carroll, while Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn secured roles with the Bears and Jets, respectively). While the broadcast addressed the situation head on, Brady also took care to avoid criticizing Johnson during Detroit’s unexpected 45-31 loss.
Moving forward, conflicts of interest for Brady seem inevitable given his dual role as a broadcaster and minority owner in the league. While the NFL has established rules to mitigate such issues, it appears those guidelines can be adjusted, even during high-stakes games involving one of the Raiders’ primary rivals.
