Tom Brady made his debut for Fox during the Week 1 matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys. Screen grab: Fox

The conversation around the potential conflict of interest that exists around Tom Brady’s dual roles as a Fox broadcaster and minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders has gotten very loud in recent days.

Fox Sports president of programming and production Brad Zager thinks the whole discussion is “ridiculous.”

Zager spoke with The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, admonishing those who call into question Brady’s integrity and ability to do his job honestly while also having a vested financial interest in a coach he’ll be discussing Saturday.

“To me, the questioning of someone’s integrity to say there is a conflict of interest is ridiculous and that’s a shame,” Zager told The Athletic.

The reason the conversation has heated up this week is that Brady will be on the call for the playoff game between the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders while reportedly personally recruiting Lions OC Ben Johnson to interview for the Raiders head coaching vacancy. The presumption is that Brady’s commentary might be compromised because he has a vested interest in keeping his candidate happy. And from a larger standpoint, it raises questions about how honest Brady will ever be about any coach or player that he might want to see donning a Raiders uniform.

Zager isn’t alone in refuting these concerns. ESPN’s Adam Schefter has defended Brady’s professionalism and thinks people are overreacting (He’s also previously downplayed Brady’s involvement in Raiders’ affairs, which is at odds with other reports). SI’s Jimmy Traina wrote earlier this week that any conflict of interest concerns are “nonsense.”

The Fox executive tried to make his point by drawing comparisons to other broadcasters who have potential conflicts with the teams or schools they call.

“Is there a conflict of interest Monday night when Kirk Herbstreit calls Ohio State in the national championship game?” Zager asked. “Was there a conflict of interest of Joe Davis calling the Dodgers in the World Series?”

Many have made the point that conflicts exist in many cases for broadcasters, diluting the concern about Brady. However, a rebuttal to Zager’s examples might be that Herbstreit has a well-documented antagonistic relationship with Ohio State fans and Davis’s status does not include the same potential conflicts that Brady presents. There’s a long history of baseball play-by-play announcers calling national games fairly even when the team they work for is involved. The same can’t be said of broadcasters who have a financial interest in the employment of those they’re discussing.

The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch suggested Thursday that Fox and Brady would serve themselves well by being transparent and mentioning the issue before Saturday’s game.

“I expect the broadcast to address it in some form (Fox Sports brass knows this is all out there, and its top NFL team has a lead producer and director who are immensely respected across the industry), but how deep they address it, we’ll see,” he wrote.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.