When NFL fans tune in to watch the Detroit Lions in the playoffs in the coming weeks, they’re likely to experience a first.
There’s a better than decent chance that they’ll hear an NFL owner providing color commentary on the very coaches he’ll be interviewing for a job.
Since firing head coach Antonio Pierce on Tuesday, the Las Vegas Raiders have reportedly requested interviews with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.
Fox will cover the NFC playoffs and the Super Bowl, and Tom Brady — a minority owner of the Raiders — is the color analyst on Fox’s No. 1 broadcast team. As minority owner, Brady is also expected to be heavily involved in the Raiders’ coaching search, a role that will reportedly include interviewing candidates and advising controlling Raiders owner Mark Davis.
Barring an early Lions exit or unexpected shakeup that involves benching its $375 million analyst, Fox’s game coverage will feature a blatant conflict of interest.
As the No. 1 seed in the NFC, the Lions have a bye during wild-card weekend and will make their playoff debut in the divisional round. Fox will cover two NFC games that weekend, and Fox could avoid the conflict by sending its No. 1 broadcast team of Brady and Kevin Burkhardt to the other NFC game.
Or given its already compromised decision to continue put an NFL owner in the broadcast booth, Fox brass very well could shrug its collective shoulders and send Brady to Detroit for the divisional round. If the Lions win in the divisional round, there will be no avoiding the conflict as long as Brady’s in the booth.
There’s only one NFC championship game. And there’s only one Super Bowl. As long as the Lions advance in the playoffs, Brady will be in a position to offer analysis of Johnson and Glenn in a role that demands honest criticism.
And thus lies the conflict, which would be two-fold. Fans that tune in do so with the expectation that the commentary they’re hearing is unfettered and without bias.
How exactly is Brady supposed to provide that as long as Johnson and Glenn are Raiders coaching candidates? What if either or both make tactical mistakes that cost the Lions a playoff game? Is Brady going to risk relationships with coaching candidates by calling those mistakes out? He might. Or he might not.
Meanwhile, teams with coaching vacancies that aren’t the Raiders are placed at a disadvantage. If the Lions thrive, and Brady offers glowing criticism of Johnson and Glenn, he’ll be the only NFL owner with a head coaching vacancy with the platform to do so in front of an audience of millions. Now imagine Jerry Jones in the same position as Brady in a scenario where the Cowboys have a head coaching vacancy. It’s not an exact parallel, but the conflict would be the same.
The NFL has put up some guardrails around Brady’s dual role as owner and broadcaster by limiting his access to other teams’ personnel and facilities. But its done nothing to avoid this conflict that’s now likely to play out during the most prominent time of the season.
