NFL Hands Down Ruling on Raiders' Tom Brady's Comments

The new minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders nearly broke one of the rules put in place for his ownership bid. The National Football League has apparently made their decision on the matter.

Oct 27, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; FOX commentator Tom Brady stands on the sideline before a game between the Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Las Raiders minority owner Tom Brady received multiple rules he had to follow to become an owner while also broadcasting National Football League games.

The rules were implemented to ensure the potential conflict of interest from having those two positions simultaneously would be remedied. 

One of the most significant restrictions placed on Brady was harsh but fair, especially considering the power that comes with calling nationally televised games.

According to Michael France of Sports Illustrated, "Brady will still have heavy restrictions limiting what he can or cannot do in the booth. Most importantly, say."

This past Sunday, Brady and Kevin Burkhardt teamed up for Fox's broadcast of the Detroit Lions’ Week 9 matchup against the Green Bay Packers. Right before halftime, standout Lions safety Brian Branch was ejected for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Packers wide receiver Bo Melton. 

Brady did not hide his feelings on the play. He stated that he felt Branch was ejected on a routine football play and that Branch should not have been ejected. When explaining his feelings, Brady did not hold back when critiquing the call on the field.

"I don't love that call at all," Brady said. "I mean, obviously, it's a penalty, but to me, that has to be serious intent in a game like this.”

Brady’s comments, while mild, still seemed to toe the line of criticizing the referees, which Brady is not allowed to do. However,  Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal recently got clarification on the matter from NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy.

"The concern would be if Tom was egregiously critical of officiating or called into question the integrity of an official or the crew,” McCarthy said. “That did not occur in this instance," McCarthy told Fischer. Thus ending any possibility of Brady receiving any kind of punishment for these particular comments.”

While Brady may have bent a rule or two during his playing days, his comments during Sunday night’s game were harmless overall and would have likely not made any waves if someone other than Brady had said it. As interesting as it may have been to see whether or not the NFL would punish Brady, they made the right decision not to do so.

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