Why you shouldn't worry about Tom Brady calling the Lions vs Commanders game and tampering with Ben Johnson
On Sunday night it was announced that Tom Brady would be on the call for the Detroit Lions Divisional round matchup with the Washington Commanders. Normally that's not a big deal. Why should we care about the commentator in this game right? Well, the difference here is that Brady is a minority owner of the […]
On Sunday night it was announced that Tom Brady would be on the call for the Detroit Lions Divisional round matchup with the Washington Commanders.
Normally that's not a big deal. Why should we care about the commentator in this game right? Well, the difference here is that Brady is a minority owner of the Raiders. A team that is reportedly enamored with the idea of hiring Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to be their next head coach.
This immediately begs the question of is this tampering? What's to keep Brady from talking to Johnson at Allen Park during a practice or sitting down for a meeting with him there? What's to stop him from talking to Johnson at Ford Field? Well, there are some rules for it.
Because Brady has that minority stake in the Raiders, he can not attend other team's practices. He can't even enter another team's facilities. He can't attend pre-game production meetings with players and coaches because he is subject to the NFL's anti-tampering policy.
The NFL has not laid out what kind of penalties Brady or the team could face if Brady is caught tampering with Johnson, but it is something the NFL takes very seriously.
Speaking of Brady and tampering, the Miami Dolphins were caught trying to get Brady to sign with them in 2020 after his final year with the Patriots. The problem with that is that were calling Brady in 2019 before that final season even started.
The Dolphins wound up losing their first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and their third-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft over this. Dolphins' owner Stephen Ross was also suspended for much of the 2022 season and was kicked off all league committees and banned from league meetings. He also had to pay $1.5 million in fines.
That's some big fines. For Brady, it could potentially cost him his job at Fox, some money, and the Raiders some draft picks. So while some might be understandably upset about Brady calling this game because of possible tampering, just know there's a real hellstorm there if he were to get caught.
The Lions are now going to have to pass a test they’ve failed a lot in their history
We now know who the Detroit Lions will face in the Divisional round of the NFL Playoffs. They will take on Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders at home on Saturday, January 18th at 8:00 PM on Fox. There's no doubt there was some happiness that the Lions didn't have to face the Packers, Rams, […]
