When NFL fans tune in to watch the Detroit Lions in the playoffs in the coming weeks, they’ll likely experience a first.
Chances are they’ll hear an NFL owner providing color commentary on which coaches he’ll interview for a job.
Since firing head coach Antonio Pierce on Tuesday, the Las Vegas Raiders have would have requested interviews with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.
Fox will cover the NFC playoffs and the Super Bowl, and Tom Brady – a minority owner of the Raiders – is the color analyst for Fox’s No. 1 broadcast team. As a minority owner, Brady Also expected to be heavily involved in Raiders coaching search, a role that would include interviewing candidates and advising the Raiders’ controlling owner Mark Davis.
Barring an early exit by the Lions or an unexpected shakeup that involves firing its $375 million analyst, Fox’s coverage of the game will feature a glaring conflict of interest.
As the NFC’s No. 1 seed, the Lions have a bye through wild-card weekend and will make their playoff debut in the divisional round. Fox will cover two NFC games this weekend and could avoid the conflict by sending its No. 1 broadcast team of Brady and Kevin Burkhardt to the other NFC game.
Or given its already compromised decision to continue putting an NFL owner in the broadcast booth, Fox execs could very well shrug their collective shoulders and send Brady to Detroit for the divisional round. If the Lions win in the divisional round, it will be impossible to avoid conflict as long as Brady is in the booth.
There is only one NFC championship game. And there’s only one Super Bowl. As long as the Lions advance in the playoffs, Brady will be able to offer analysis of Johnson and Glenn in a role that demands honest criticism.
And this is where the conflict lies, which would be twofold. Fans who tune in do so with the expectation that the comments they hear will be free and without bias.
How exactly is Brady supposed to provide that while Johnson and Glenn are Raiders coaching candidates? What if one or both makes tactical errors that cost the Lions a playoff game? Will Brady risk his relationships with coached candidates by denouncing these errors? He could. Or maybe not.
Meanwhile, teams whose coaching positions aren’t the Raiders’ are at a disadvantage. If the Lions thrive and Brady raves about Johnson and Glenn, he will be the only NFL owner with a head coaching vacancy with the platform to do so in front of an audience of millions. Now imagine Jerry Jones in the same position as Brady in a scenario where the Cowboys have a head coaching vacancy. It’s not an exact parallel, but the conflict would be the same.
The NFL has put guardrails in place around Brady’s dual roles as owner and broadcaster by limiting his access to other teams’ personnel and facilities. But that did nothing to avoid this conflict which now risks playing out at the most important moment of the season.
