When the Fox crew attended Wednesday’s Chiefs practice to prepare for its Super Bowl LIX broadcast, all the announcers were there — except Tom Brady.
According to the Pro Football Writers Association’s pool report from Wednesday, those in attendance at the practice included Kevin Burkhardt, Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi, Jimmy Johnson, Curt Menefee, Julian Edelman, Peter Schrager, and Kristina Pink. Brady wasn’t there.
The conflicts inherent to Brady being both the top Fox game commentator and a minority owner of the Raiders have led to a special set of rules, just for Brady, about what he can and cannot do in his role as a broadcaster. All year, Brady has been kept out of production meetings that other broadcasters attend because of concerns that he could glean valuable information about other teams that he could then use to the Raiders’ advantage.
This week, in preparation for the Super Bowl, some of those restrictions have been lifted. But Chiefs owner Clark Hunt told reporters this week that Brady would still not be allowed to attend Chiefs practice.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell downplayed any concerns about conflicts of interest this week, but the whole reason broadcasters attend practices is that it helps them prepare for the game. Brady is missing out on information that any other broadcaster would have access to. Which in turn means the viewers aren’t getting that information from Brady.
Everyone involved — Brady himself, Goodell, the Raiders, and Fox — can insist all they want that the conflict is no big deal, but Brady the player never would have missed out on an opportunity to prepare himself as completely as possible for a game. Brady the broadcaster is.
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