Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady stirred up some controversy during the Week 2 game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Brady was seen sitting in the coaches booth with a headset on during the broadcast, and the ESPN announcers revealed that the future Hall of Famer meets with Las Vegas offensive coordinator Chip Kelly multiple times per week to go over the game plan and film.
Because of Brady's role as a FOX announcer, many pointed out the conflict of interest that is.
"It underscores the existence of an obvious conflict of interest. Just yesterday, Brady worked the Eagles-Chiefs game, where he had an opportunity to pick up much more intel about the Raiders’ AFC West rivals than any advance scout could ever muster," Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio wrote.
"Do we really think Brady will share nothing he gleaned from the Chiefs’ defense, or offense, during his $37.5 million per year day job before the Raiders face the Chiefs in Week 7?"
Another example of a conflict of interest is Brady calling the Chicago Bears-Dallas Cowboys game this week before the Raiders take on Chicago the following week.
The idea is that Brady could gather intel in the lead up to Dallas-Chicago and then turn around and share what he discovered with the Raiders.
On Tuesday, the NFL put out a statement saying that Brady is not doing anything wrong when it comes to sitting in the coaches booth.
"There are no policies that prohibit an owner from sitting in the coaches’ booth or wearing a headset during a game. Brady was sitting in the booth in his capacity as a limited partner," the statement read. "All personnel sitting in the booth must abide by policies that prohibit the use of electronic devices other than league-issued equipment such as a Microsoft Surface Tablet for the Sideline Viewing System."
"Tom continues to be prohibited from going to a team facility for practices or production meetings," the statement added. "He may attend production meetings remotely but may not attend in person at the team facility or hotel.
"He may also conduct an interview off site with a player like he did last year a couple times, including for the Super Bowl. Of course, as with any production meeting with broadcast teams, it’s up to the club, coach or players to determine what they say in those sessions"
After the game, head coach Pete Carroll refuted the report that Brady and Kelly go over the game plan and film in their meetings.
"That's not accurate," Carroll said. "We have conversations. I talk to Tom, Chip talks to Tom regularly. We have a tremendous asset, and so we all get along well, we respect each other, and so we just talk about life and football and whatever it becomes. He has great insight, so we're lucky to have him as an owner."
Knowing what we know now, it's safe to say teams are going to be very careful in what they share with Brady moving forward, which creates an awkward situation.
MORE NFL NEWS
- Pete Carroll gives frustrating answer for Ashton Jeanty's bizarre usage
- Geno Smith roasted for ugly showing in Raiders' 20-9 loss to Chargers
- Ashton Jeanty criticized for lackadaisical rep that got Geno Smith rocked
- Snoop Dogg has harsh words for Steelers OC Arthur Smith
- Jalen Hurts shut down Chris Jones' trash talk with the perfect response
- Steelers have $162 million issue after 1-1 start
- Bears have major $125 million problem after 0-2 start