REPORT: NFL to Allow Raiders Minority Owner Tom Brady to Attend Production Meetings, Barred from Practices

In news that will shock no football fan, the NFL is once again changing the rules to benefit Tom Brady.

Tom Brady, the former NFL great and current member of the #1 broadcast team at Fox Sports, is also a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. Last year, his status as a league owner prevented him from attending practices and production meetings of teams that he was covering that week, given the obvious conflict of interest in having a team owner in a position to “spy” on a potential future opponent.

Well, that prohibition may be on the way out.

According to a report from The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, the NFL is revising the “Brady rules” to allow the future Hall of Famer to attend production meetings. However, he will still be barred from attending practices.

Marchand’s report does not say whether  Brady will still be barred from entering the team facilities and hotels of other teams.

The relaxation of the prohibition against production meetings does not guarantee that Brady will actually participate in the discussions. If he didn’t feel the need to do so in the past, he may decide it’s not necessary and continue sitting in on phone calls with coaches, as he did last year.

While some will be tempted to ask, “What’s the big deal?” about having Brady sit in on production meetings if the team in question is not playing the Raiders that week, it’s a fair question.

However, the production meetings are a much more in-depth Q&A session than a typical interview, and someone, especially someone with the outrageously high football IQ as Brady, could glean vital information on a player or coach’s personality, football philosophy, or tendencies that could prove helpful in the hands of the Raiders when they eventually face that team.

But, for now, the NFL appears willing to risk that.