NFL responds to outrage over Tom Brady sitting in Raiders coaches’ box

Tom Brady sat in close proximity to Las Vegas Raiders coaches and even wore a headset during the team’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday, but the NFL says he was not in violation of any league rules.

Many fans and members of the media were outraged when Brady was shown on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” broadcast with a headset on sitting in the Raiders coaches’ booth at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev. ESPN sideline reporter Peter Schrager also shared that Brady regularly works with Chip Kelly and meets with the Raiders offensive coordinator multiple times a week.

Brady is a minority owner of the Raiders. He is also a game analyst for FOX, so there is a belief among many that the seven-time Super Bowl champion should not be permitted to work closely with his team’s coaching staff.

On Tuesday, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement that what Brady did on Monday night was fine, at least as far as the league is concerned.

“There are no policies that prohibit an owner from sitting in the coaches’ booth or wearing a headset during a game,” McCarthy said. “All personnel sitting in the booth must abide by policies that prohibit the use of electronic devices other than league-issued equipment such as a Microsoft Surface Tablet for the Sideline Viewing System.”

The bigger issue, however, is that Brady works for FOX. That allows him access to certain information about other teams. While the NFL relaxed the restrictions on Brady this year to allow him to take part in production meetings, McCarthy says the former quarterback can only do so remotely. Brady is also “prohibited from going to a team facility for practices.”

You could make the argument that Brady being allowed to attend production meetings — even virtually — is a conflict of interest. He could, in theory, obtain information during those meetings and share it with the Raiders, especially if he is meeting with Kelly throughout the week and then sitting in the team’s coaches’ booth.

Of course, teams get to decide what they want to share with the media during production meetings. If there were pertinent information that coaches did not want Brady knowing, they could simply keep it to themselves.