Bear Digest

Tom Brady and commissioner too quick to brush aside possible conflict

Analysis: Tom Brady tells his side of the possible conflict of interest as a broadcaster and part NFL owner, as the Bears arrive in Vegas to face his team after he worked last week's game.
Gene Chamberlain|
Tom Brady puts out a newsletter and addressed the issue of conflict of interest that arose the last two weeks.
Tom Brady puts out a newsletter and addressed the issue of conflict of interest that arose the last two weeks. | Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Coming out of the Bears locker room and heading to the interview room for Ben Johnson's press conference Sunday, the first person I recognized coming right at me Sunday was none other than the GOAT, Tom Brady.

The broadcast crew from Fox was leaving at that point. No time then with Johnson's press conference coming up to find out if Brady had gotten sufficient information about the Bears to help his team out this Sunday when the Raiders play the Bears.

This is said facetiously, of course, not because it wasn't really a concern, though.

Brady's ability to pick the minds of Ben Johnson or Caleb Williams or any other player or coach as a broadcaster at a production meeting runs in direct conflict with his role as a minority Raiders owner. Brady puts out a monthly newsletter called the "Do Your Job" newsletter and in the one released this week, he addresses that issue of possible conflict of interest by saying basically he loves the sport too much to take advantage of it.

"When you live through uncertain and untrusting times like we are today, it is very easy to watch a person’s passions and profession intersect, and to believe you’re looking at some sort of dilemma," Brady wrote. "Because when you’re blinded by distrust, it’s hard to see anything other than self-interest. People who are like that, particularly to a chronic, pathological degree, are telling on themselves. They’re showing you their worldview and how they operate. They’re admitting that they can only conceive of interests that are selfish; that they cannot imagine a person doing their job for reasons that are greater than themselves. (These kinds of people make horrible teammates, by the way.)

"But there are millions of great human beings out there whose actions are guided by a purpose greater than themselves, by duty and integrity. That’s most coaches and teachers I’ve met, as a matter of fact. Personally, I spent my entire pro career focused on interests that were bigger than me. In retirement, nothing has changed. These days when it comes to football, I’m motivated, very much like a coach or a teacher, to grow and improve the game by sharing my knowledge and wisdom in support of the young people who play it. I’m driven not by what football can do for me, but what I can do for it."

Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson last week both said they have no problem talking to Brady because they can control what they talk about.

As Johnson said, he's been in "coachspeak" mode for quite a while.

The entire issue was brought before commissioner Roger Goodell by CNBC's Alex Sherman and the answer was predictable.

“Teams have the right to say whatever they want,” Goodell told Sherman. “They don’t have to disclose information if they think it’s a conflict of interest. We have a lot of former players in those meetings who are close to their former teams.

"Our clubs are smart enough to say, ‘I’m not sharing something with him.’ ”

There is potential for conflict

Regardless of what they say, the potential for conflict still exists. Whether it's actually pursued is another matter.

The league missed out on its chance to simply say when Brady got partial ownership of the Raiders that he can't take part in the production meetings. It would calm any fears, especially for those who are "blinded by distrust."

There's nothing "pathological" or "chronic" about wanting everything to be above board.

Transparency and safety are always the best policies. Besides, it's hard to believe Brady wouldn't get as much out of simply reading about the teams involved in his games each week as he would by sitting in on a production meeting, anyway.

As for Goodell's comment, it's not surprising. When was the last time he took a strong stance against anything where dollars are involved? And you can bet the networks and league perceive Brady's involvement as a highly beneficial role for the NFL.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.