Teams Can't Waive Tom Brady Broadcast Rules (Unless They Can)

On the surface, the NFL's Tom Brady Broadcast Rules appear to be a restriction. On a deeper level, the league might have done Brady another favor.

Because he owns the Raiders, Brady cannot attend production meetings or practices as part of his job at Fox. He is not even allowed into the team facilities.

It prevents him from being the best broadcaster he can be and deprives him of important access and the insights that come from it. Given his tradition of always wanting to be the best at everything he does, Brady probably doesn't mind having one hand tied behind his back.

There's a chance he'll be fine. He may welcome the lighter workload that comes with the league's restrictions on his preparations.

This is not a guess. It's a plausible explanation for the way things turned out, and it's circulating in NFL circles.

That belief is reinforced by the fact that the league is not allowing teams to lift the ban on Brady attending production meetings. According to a source familiar with the situation, the Bills wanted to speak with Brady before Sunday's game in Seattle, which Brady will direct for Fox. The league said no.

Why would the league say no if the Bills are willing to let him participate? The rules are presumably designed to protect teams from infiltration by another team's owner, someone who has a fiduciary duty to do whatever they can to help the team they own. If a team like the Bills has no problem with Brady attending a production meeting, why should it be banned?

Other teams, we're told, were willing to waive the Tom Brady Broadcast Rules. The league has declined.

Teams have asked the league for a copy of the rule or policy or a memo outlining the dos and don'ts of the Tom Brady Broadcast Rules. We're told there are no real rules, guidelines or memos. For some, the only concrete information on this topic comes from reading PFT (those bastards).

Last weekend, Brady went to the Chiefs' hotel to interview quarterback Patrick Mahomes. That was allowed. It's unclear why.

Maybe it was allowed because Brady wanted to do it. Maybe he doesn't really want to go to practice or attend production meetings or talk on the phone with coaches and players to best prepare for games.

That's the conclusion reached by at least one person involved in the effort to get the league to repeal the Tom Brady Broadcast Rules. It's not like the league is oppressing him. It's because Brady doesn't want to do the work and the restrictions give him a quick and easy excuse to avoid it.

That's not my opinion. It's the opinion of someone who has tried to figure out why the rules are the way they are, why they aren't written down, and why they were waived when Brady wanted to interview Mahomes but not in other situations.

That's the key. Brady wanted to interview Mahomes. Brady can do whatever he wants to do. For the things he doesn't want to do, all he has to do is hide behind the rules that prevent him from doing them.