Tom Brady was approved as a part-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders this month, formally restricting his performance as a broadcaster at Fox.
Among those restrictions are that Brady cannot go to opposing team facilities or meet with personnel and that Brady cannot criticize officials or teams. Many have criticized Fox for hiring an analyst they knew could be subject to these restrictions. But Stephen A. Smith is not worried one bit about Brady’s ability to excel in the broadcast booth, in spite of the restrictions.
“Do we really need to see Tom Brady go in and talk to the team?” Smith said before Week 7 on The Stephen A. Smith Show. “Are we going to sit here with a straight face and act like Tom Brady, in order for him to do his job, which is watching the damn game and telling you what’s happening … needs to go and talk to the coach to figure that out? Hell, he’d probably teach the coaches.”
There is one issue where Smith worries the NFL itself could pose an issue for Brady. Depending on how the NFL defines criticism, the very nature of Brady’s job could become problematic. But Smith argued it’s in the league’s best interest to ease up there.
“Here’s where it gets tricky, the NFL’s interpretation of criticism,” Smith said. “Tom Brady is calling a football game and a payer sucks, he’s got a right to say they suck or they’re playing like trash today. He’s got a right to sit up there and say somebody didn’t do their job … the onus ain’t on him, it’s on the NFL.”
From the Fox perspective, Smith cut them slack, arguing Fox should be lobbying the NFL to let Brady do his job.
“If I’m Fox, I hired him to a 10-year, $37 million (per year) deal,” Smith said. “You’ve got to let him do his job. And if I’m Fox, I’m insisting that you let him do his job. Simply calling the game.”
However, Fox likely knew of Brady’s interest in ownership before it hired him. If nothing else, they knew the Raiders bid was in progress when they finally brought him on this season.
While Smith is likely right that Brady can do the job without practice and interview access, there were plenty of analysts who Fox could have hired without these obstacles. And until Brady proves himself to be consistently on par with the other top NFL analysts, it’s hard to say with certainty that it is worth the headache for Fox.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.