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Since Mark Davis took over as controlling owner of the Las Vegas Raiders in 2011, the team has just two winning seasons and no playoff wins. With the recent addition of legendary quarterback Tom Brady to his ownership group, there’s been talk that he’ll have a large say over football operations.
Brady is currently a color commentator for FOX Sports so it’s difficult to know how involved he’ll be with the Raiders. However, he may have dropped a hint about how involved he’ll be. He recently spoke to golfer Bryson DeChambeau and explained what excites him about NFL ownership.
“I get to be involved in the NFL for as long as I’m around, basically, because of ownership,” Brady said on the Nov. 27 episode of “Break 50.” “Being a broadcaster has been amazing, but also knowing beyond that, I get to be involved in the sport I love for the rest of my life and try to impact the game in a positive way and call out what I like, what I don’t like.”
That last part of what Brady said is interesting. He says that he can call out things that he likes and doesn’t like. That would suggest that he’ll at least have some input in football decisions. Minority owners don’t typically have much of a say over football operations but it sounds like Brady will at least make his opinion known.
How Involved Should Tom Brady Be?
As noted earlier, the Raiders haven’t had success under Davis. He’s on his eighth head coach and fourth general manager since taking over the franchise. That’s not a recipe for success.
Davis would be wise to lean on Brady. While we’ve never seen him in a front office role, he clearly knows a lot about football. He’s won seven Super Bowls and played for 23 years. At the very least, he can be a valuable consultant for Davis.
That said, if Davis can convince him to be heavily involved, Brady should be the one making major football decisions. Davis has proven that he’s not great at hiring coaches or general managers. Brady could be valuable in that regard, as well as a person who can help scout and recruit free agents.
Would Brady Leave Broadcasting?
While Brady wouldn’t be allowed to hold a title due to NFL rules, he could effectively be the president of football operations if Davis wanted him to be. The problem is that he has a full-time job during the NFL season as a broadcaster.
Brady has received mixed reactions for his performance on TV and the fact that he’s an NFL owner places a lot of restrictions on what he can and can’t say. If he’s going to be involved in the Raiders’ football operations, he may need to consider walking away from the broadcast booth.
Based on his comments to DeChambeau, it sounds like he views ownership as his more long-term play while broadcasting is more short-term. He has a 10-year, $375 million contract with FOX, which would be a lot of money to walk away from, but running an NFL team as an owner is something that very few former players get a chance to do.
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