Tom Brady alongside Kevin Burkhardt on the call of the Lions-Commanders Divisional Round game Photo Credit: Fox

For weeks, media pundits have questioned whether Tom Brady’s ownership role with the Las Vegas Raiders is perhaps a conflict of interest that would make Brady have to choose between his color analyst job at Fox and his role with the Raiders. And Saturday’s Fox broadcast will likely only further cause more to ask these kinds of questions.

Alongside Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady was on the call of Saturday’s Divisional Round matchup between the Detroit Lions and the Washington Commanders, where Brady was likely a very interested observer in the Lions in particular.

The Raiders have interviewed eight candidates for their head coaching vacancy. Two of them, Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, were taking part in the game that Brady was calling.

Brady is likely well aware of the conflict of interest complaints at this point. Fox executives recently said that the narrative that there is any conflict of interest is “ridiculous”.

The Fox duo didn’t shy away from Brady’s ownership stake on Saturday’s broadcast. In fact, Burkhardt specifically brought up the Raiders head coaching search and how Brady has evaluated Johnson and Glenn as candidates.

“So for those who don’t know, Tom, you picked up a little side hustle a couple of months ago,” said Burkhardt. “You know, just buying a minority share of the Raiders. Normal type stuff. But with that, the cool thing is you get to be in on these interviews for this head coaching search. Obviously we told you Glenn and Ben Johnson have done that. How have you evaluated them?”

As you may expect, Brady didn’t reveal much information about either Johnson or Glenn.

“It’s just been a great learning experience,” replied Brady. “But you realize that the league is full of great potential. What I believe is the resumes, the accolades, they are all earned by what people do on the field. You earn your opportunities and do your performance. Let that ball do the talking. Just as it should be and just how I did when I was a player.”

On one hand, Brady not sharing his true thoughts on Johnson and Glenn as candidates could be seen as proof that he can properly balance both responsibilities that he has.

But with that being said, this entire situation may perhaps be raising red flags for Fox and the NFL considering Brady could very well have a bias for or against Glenn or Johnson following their interviews.

Despite all of the criticism that Brady has faced both due to these conflict of interest complaints and for his on-air performance perhaps being lackluster in the eyes of many, he will reportedly be returning for at least one more season in the Fox booth.

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.