Mike Florio ,
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Plenty of voices have been heard regarding the now-obvious conflict of interest for Fox broadcaster/Raiders minority owner Tom Brady. One voice has a unique, and informative, perspective.
Antonio Pierce coached the Raiders in 2024, when Brady officially became a part owner of the franchise.
“This is unprecedented, what we’re seeing,” Pierce told Adam Schein of SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio. “I think I would be uncomfortable if it was the other way around, to be honest with you. Because you’re not dealing with just a normal person. Tom Brady is the elite of the elite, one of the greatest quarterbacks, one of the greatest players in the game, played against him obviously, student of the game.
“It’s not hard for him to watch a few things on a Friday practice or hear things in a production meeting and be like, ‘Hmm,’ and have tidbits. And you’d be foolish enough to think that he’s not gonna share that with the Raiders because we had those conversations about certain things.”
And there it is. The call from inside the house, sort of. Pierce knows the value of what Brady is doing while working games involving other teams because of who Brady is — and because Brady shared information with Pierce last year.
“I think everybody’s gonna give you the political answer and say, ‘Oh, it’s no big deal,’” Pierce added. “I’m calling BS on that because if me and you was to call the game, they’ll be secretive with us. Now you got a guy who’s a minority owner, a great player, you know he understands the game, you know he sees the game. He has obviously an interest in the Raiders. So I just think it’s unprecedented. We haven’t seen it. Again, I don’t want to talk above my means. I don’t know what the NFL has set for Tom Brady and his rules, but I know he was a great asset for us with the Raiders when I was there. And I think he’ll still be a great asset as he’s going forward and I think this does help him out, and the Raiders.”
The knowledge from Brady didn’t help the 2024 Raiders. By the time Brady’s bid was approved in October, it was too late to salvage the season. This year, it’s different.
“He was at training camp,” Pierce said. “He’s been around, he was at OTAs, he was in the draft meetings. He’s been around a lot more than he was last year with me. So our conversations were more about how we fix the Raiders. I think this year, you know, he built that team. I mean, those are a lot of his calls, right? I think even starting with [firing] me, you know, I think with me that was one of his calls. And again, Pete Carroll and Geno [Smith], like he’s heavily involved within the organization. So maybe last year that would have helped me out. But I didn’t have that from Tom last year.”
Here’s the reality. Even though the NFL knew or should have known that Brady should have been required to pick a lane, the situation wasn’t clear for most until the video emerged on Monday night of Brady in the coaches’ box, with a headset, a tablet, and a desperate effort to shrink in his seat once he realized he was on camera.
It’s now for the owners to rise up and demand change. But they won’t do it unless and until the Raiders become a consistent high-level contender.
At that point, Brady’s dual status suddenly will be regarded by plenty of teams as a threat to the game even bigger than the tush push. And they’ll try to clean up the mess that they themselves made by letting him own part of a team without resigning from Fox.
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