NFL
Fox Sports president of programming and production Brad Zager said it is “ridiculous” for anyone to question Tom Brady over a perceived conflict of interest as a member of Saturday’s broadcast team for the divisional round playoff game between the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders.
Brady, who is also a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, is a part of the franchise’s coaching decision-making team. Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is a prime candidate.
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This combined with the NFL putting in place the “Brady Rules” that restrict the TV analyst from conducting regular pregame broadcast activities has resulted in the Brady microscope being even more sharply focused.
“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.
Zager brought up several examples that he thought could be described as conflicts of interest in the small world of sportscasting. Among them, Zager mentioned ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit. Zager made sure to add that Herbstreit has “earned his place at the top of the industry.” Zager also pointed to Fox’s MLB play-by-play announcer, Joe Davis, who is the voice of the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Is there a conflict of interest Monday night when Kirk Herbstreit calls Ohio State in the national championship game?” Zager said of Herbstreit, who played at Ohio State. “Was there a conflict of interest of Joe Davis calling the Dodgers in the World Series?
“For somebody to say there’s a conflict of interest in that Tom Brady can’t go in a booth and call a Lions game because the possibility of a Raiders coaching search could include, maybe people from Detroit, maybe from Washington, maybe from any team — since they haven’t hired anyone yet — is questioning his integrity. It’s questioning his professionalism. I just don’t understand it on any level.”
There is precedent for minority owners calling games, including Grant Hill, who owns a stake in the Atlanta Hawks and is an analyst for TNT Sports.
Fox Sports is coming out of its Bill Belichick-ian press approach to talking about Brady’s performance. Before Zager’s comments, no Fox Sports executives have been made available for interviews all season. Neither have Brady, nor his partner Kevin Burkhardt.
With Fox broadcasting this year’s Super Bowl and with speculation about whether Brady will continue to honor his 10-year, $375 million contract, and his perceived Raiders conflicts, Fox and Brady’s team are extinguishing narratives that they don’t believe have merit.
On Thursday, Brady’s agent Don Yee told the Sports Business Journal that Brady would return to the booth next season. On Friday, Zager got on the phone with The Athletic. Next week, Brady will likely address his future, potentially on an appearance with FS1’s Colin Cowherd.
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“Based on every conversation I’ve ever had with Tom Brady, which at this point is a lot, I expect him to be here for a really, really long time,” Zager said.
Brady’s situation has been complicated because of his minority ownership stake with the Raiders. Brady is not allowed into pregame production meetings, which deprives him of normal interactions before games. While Zager emphasized that he thinks those meetings are important, he does not believe Brady has been hurt by not attending them.
“I think that he has still gotten all the information and prepared at the highest level for every single game,” Zager said.
Brady replaced Greg Olsen as Burkhardt’s partner. Two years ago, Burkhardt and Olsen received rave reviews for their Super Bowl performance. In three weeks, it will be Burkhardt and Brady calling the game from New Orleans. Zager feels as if Brady continues to build from week to week, especially in late and close games.
“From the moment he has signed with us going back over two years, the guy has been the ultimate teammate, completely engaged, responsive all in on the preparation to get ready to do the job and throughout the season and everything from week-to-week for at a really high level,” Zager said.
(Photo: Joe Nicholson / Imagn Images)
Andrew Marchand is a Sr. Sports Media Columnist for The Athletic. He previously worked for the New York Post and ESPN, where he predominantly covered sports media and baseball. In 2023, Marchand was named one of five finalists for The Big Lead’s “Insider of the Year” in all of sports.
