Tom Brady clarifies his role with Las Vegas Raiders ahead of Super Bowl LIX

Earlier this week, multiple outlets reported that three Fox Sports' Super Bowl LIX broadcasters — Kevin Burkhardt, Erin Andrews, and Tom Rinaldi — would be allowed to attend the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles practices.

Conspicuously absent from that group: Tom Brady, Fox's $375 million rookie analyst. The NFL has limited Brady's access to other teams, in practices and in Fox's production meetings with players and coaches, because of his ownership stake in the Las Vegas Raiders throughout his first season in the booth.

The perception of a conflict of interest is essential to understanding the league's decision to implement the so-called "Brady Rules."

Would Brady glean any actionable information that he could use to help the Raiders by attending the meetings and practices? Would teams hold back what they revealed to Brady — and by extension, the rest of the Fox team — if he were present? Maybe not, but in theory excluding Brady squelches the appearance of any conflicting motives.

This week will be different. Brady will be able to join his network colleagues in pregame meetings with Kansas City, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt told reporters Tuesday in New Orleans. The Philadelphia Eagles will allow Brady to attend their pregame production meetings too, according to The Athletic, but he's barred from both teams' practices.

So what is Brady's role with the Raiders, exactly?

"My ownership interest in the Raiders is just much more of a long-term kind of behind-the-scenes type role, and I’m there to support the team and the leadership and the overall vision for the success," Brady told reporters Wednesday in New Orleans. "The best part for me is I love football so much, and the fact that I get to be involved in it for the rest of my life, and to showcase this great game, not just as a broadcaster — which is obviously one way — but in a limited partner role with an organization. It’s something I hope a lot of other players get the opportunity to do.

"The reality is, Mark Davis is the owner of the Raiders, and I play supportive, complementary roles in the vision that he sets.”

The NFL's restrictions aren't unreasonable. But Fox Sports can't have this both ways: either Brady is missing a critical component of his weekly prep by not attending every meeting and practice, or he is not, and his colleagues are wasting their time.

The situation is only made more difficult by virtue of Brady's stature in the game, his salary, and his displacement of an arguably more talented analyst in Greg Olsen. By all accounts, Brady has approached his new job with humility. But the NFL's restrictions are as awkward as they are necessary.

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