Dodging the point

 Perhaps I'm just a hair slow on the uptake. I have been accused of such. It is not an accusation devoid of evidence, regrettably.

So I'm reading this story about Tom Brady being caught on camera wearing a headset in the Las Vegas Raiders' coaching booth Monday night, and how the NFL rolled out a statement saying it was fine, A-OK, he didn't violate any league rules. This is because, as a man with a minority stake in the Raiders, there are restrictions about what he can and can't do.

The league said being in the coaching booth with a headset on wasn't a can't-do. So no problem-o.

This is where I said, "Yeah, but ..."

Yeah, but what about Tom's other gig? You know, the one for which Fox is paying him $375 million over the next 10 years?

The league didn't address that. And the story I read didn't mention the (to me, anyway) sketchy optics of a part-owner pal-ing around with the help in the coaching booth when he's also being paid a good chunk of change as an NFL broadcaster. 

At least until well down in the buried-lede section, that is.

"As a broadcaster, he gets access to other teams' players and coaches that other owners do not have, raising concerns about a conflict of interest," the story finally mentioned, nine paragraphs down.

Well, NO S***, SHERLOCK.

"Concerns about a conflict of interest"? Well, I sure would hope so. There should be concerns, because it is a conflict interest. A great big steaming pile of a conflict, especially when Tom Brady the partial-owner-who's-also-a-broadcast shows up on Monday Night Football wearing a headset in an NFL team's coaching booth.

To me, that's the story here, not that Brady may or may not have violated any rules as a partial team owner. I didn't think there was anything egregious about that, although the league clearly thought it was egregious enough to release a statement. No, the egregious part is Fox paying TB12 major jack to cover the NFL while also being a part of the NFL.

A part made glaringly obvious by what happened Monday night. Or so it seems to me, Mr. Slow-On-The-Uptake.

The less slow, after all, will point out that the NFL initially allowed Brady to work for Fox only with certain restrictions, many of which it's since relaxed. They'll also point out, by-the-by, that the league pays the networks a truckload of cash to broadcast the games, which by extension advances the NFL brand. It's a symbiosis that makes crusty old journos like me queasy, but we are after all relics of a prehistoric time when conflicts of interest were something to be avoided, not enthusiastically embraced.

The networks and the leagues threw all that over the side years ago. Ditto the Meathead Brigade steering the national tour bus right now, whose conflicts are many and brazen. The day when they were a black mark for a public servant is as over as zoot suits and rumble seats.

In which case, reserve me a seat in your '37 DeSoto. Because I think everyone dodged the point on Headset Tom, and I ain't changin' my mind.

As a broadcaster, he gets access to other teams' players and coaches that other owners do not have, raising concerns about a conflict of interest.

The NFL recently relaxed some of its restrictions for Brady in that role, including allowing him to take part in production meetings -- when a broadcast crew meets with that game's head coaches and key players -- this season. He must take part in those meetings remotely, and he isn't allowed to attend practices at team facilities.