NFL Rumors: Tom Brady’s Fox Role Could Be Restricted More After Mahomes Interview

Adam WellsNovember 19, 2024

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Already faced with restrictions about how involved he can be in production meetings leading up to games due to his status as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, Tom Brady’s role as a Fox NFL analyst might be even more restricted in the future.

Per Ben Fischer of the Sports Business Journal, the NFL is considering expanding the rules to prevent conflicts of interest in the wake of an interview Brady conducted with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes that aired on Oct. 20.

There was nothing remarkable about the interview Brady did with Mahomes. They spoke about winning Super Bowls, their families and passion for the game of football.

According to Fischer, though, insiders believe the interview “created a situation where Brady could have received sensitive information” about a division rival of the Raiders.

Fischer noted that some NFL team owners will be asked if they are OK with the seven-time Super Bowl winner conducting these sorts of interviews going forward at a meeting of the league’s finance committee on Tuesday.

Some of the specific restrictions that could be placed on Brady include limiting his interactions with players to live or recorded interviews for broadcast only to prevent private one-on-one interactions; conduct those interviews outside of team facilities and possibly away from team hotels; and get advanced approval from the league and player’s team to ensure the interview is within the rules.

Brady, who is in his first season as a television analyst on Fox, was approved as a limited partner for the Raiders on Oct. 15. League rules prohibit the 47-year-old, in his role as a team owner, from attending practices or production meetings with teams in the week leading up to a game.

The 15-time Pro Bowler is also unable to “egregiously” criticize the officials for a mistake during a game.

Fischer noted if the finance committee wants to take further action, all 32 owners could take up the matter at their next league meeting scheduled for Dec. 10 and 11.

Fox Sports signed Brady to a 10-year, $375 million contract to become an NFL broadcaster in March 2022 whenever his playing career ended. He sat out the 2023 season after retiring as a player in February of that year.

Brady has been paired with Kevin Burkhardt as the No. 1 announce team for Fox’s NFL coverage.