Roger Goodell reacts to tampering concerns amid Tom Brady’s roles with Fox, Raiders ownership

In October, Tom Brady officially became a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. The acquisition concerned some NFL fans, who believed Brady’s ownership would conflict with his position as the lead NFL color commentator on FOX Sports.

While the NFL addressed the issue at the time, it didn’t have a full offseason to consider the ramifications of the development. On Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell revealed his perspective on the unusual situation.

“Everybody in the National Football League, owner to personnel, is still subject to tampering rules and other policy,” Goodell said. “They’re responsible for that conduct, and they’re all held accountable for that. In the case of this actual transition, we had special rules that were designed for this, for some of the concerns that some of the ownership had on this, and to make sure, as we learn a little bit more about this, where could there possibly be any kind of conflicts?

“That’s something that we’ll obviously consider in the off-season and think about that. Should that policy be adjusted? Should something be added or subtracted? But right now, Tom has been incredibly cooperative. He calls frequently about it and says, ‘Am I doing OK?’ And I think he’s serious about making sure that he separates these two and he doesn’t put the league, or anyone in a position of conflict.”

Brady has no shortage of restrictions due to dual responsibilities as a broadcaster and NFL owner. The seven-time Super Bowl champion is not allowed to enter another team’s facility, to witness practice and to attend broadcast production meetings, either in person or virtually.

The latter restriction is extremely detrimental to Brady’s job as a broadcaster. In the production meetings, the broadcasters meet with the coaches of the team they are covering that week, which is obviously helpful for the broadcasters.

Additionally, Brady is prohibited from publicly criticizing game officials and other clubs, and forbidden from violating the league’s gambling policy. He is also permitted only “strictly social communication with members of other clubs.”

In short, Roger Goodell and the NFL did their best to create a ruleset that will prevent Tom Brady from causing any issues in the role. So far, the organization has seemingly been successful. Nonetheless, not everybody is convinced that Brady couldn’t use the position to gain an unfair advantage for the Raiders.

“I think a lot of owners around the league felt that was a potential conflict,” Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said, per ESPN. “It’s hard to know whether it will be an actual conflict, but it can be a potential conflict or perceived conflict.”