Pete Carroll Responds to Report that Tom Brady Meets with Raiders Coaches ‘Regularly’

Whether Tom Brady meets with Raiders coaches “regularly” seems to come down to what the definition of a “meeting” is.

Brady set the internet ablaze Monday night when he appeared in the Raiders’ coaches’ box, complete with a headset.

The optics of this seemed to confirm what many suspected, which is that Brady is heavily involved in the Raiders’ operations.

“We’ve got a special member of the Raiders ownership group here today, and that is Tom Brady, who is in the house and is with the coaches’ box here tonight,” ESPN’s Peter Schrager said while Brady was being shown on camera. “Was wondering how much Brady really had an involvement with this team. We hear so much about Brady as the owner. Chip Kelly told us this. He talks to Brady two to three times a week. They go through film, they go through the game plan. And Brady is a luxury for the coaches. Who else has an owner who has been there and done that?”

That report prompted a question to Raiders head coach Pete Carroll about whether he really does meet with Brady three times a week and “go through film” together.

“That’s not accurate,” Carroll said. “That’s not accurate. That’s not accurate. We have conversations. I talk to Tom, Chip talks to Tom. Regularly. I mean, we have a tremendous asset. And so we all get along well, we respect each other. And so we talk about life and football and whatever it comes. And he has great insight. So we’re lucky to have him as an owner.”

So, are these regular talks “meetings?” Or, are they just a bunch of guys getting together and shooting the breeze? It seems evident that if a man as busy as Brady is talking “regularly” with anyone, it’s not purely social.

For those reasons, it seems that Carroll’s response is hardly a refutation of Schrager’s report. And of course, when we’re seeing Brady sitting with the coaches while wearing a headset, it definitely seems likely that Brady’s interest in his coaches spans a lot more than discussions about “life.”