The Kansas City Chiefs’ bid for a perfect season ended in Week 11 when the Buffalo Bills handed the team its first loss of 2024. While Patrick Mahomes focuses on using the defeat to fuel the Chiefs’ season moving forward, Kansas City’s QB made headlines this week for another reason.
Prior to the Chiefs’ Week 7 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, Mahomes sat down with legendary quarterback turned work-in-progress broadcaster Tom Brady for a fluff piece interview.
The four-minute segment, which aired on October 20, was entirely innocuous. But Brady’s ownership stake in the Las Vegas Raiders complicates matters. The pre-recorded chat and Brady’s access to non-Raider players were topics at an NFL finance committee meeting on Tuesday, according to Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal.
The committee is attempting to prevent any potential conflicts of interest and will consider limiting Brady’s interaction with players solely to broadcast interviews in an effort to ensure all conversations are a matter of public record. Brady could be forbidden from interacting with players privately, even prior to the broadcasted conversation, per Fischer.
Furthermore, the new Brady rules could mandate these interviews take place away from team facilities or hotels where the team is staying when on the road. And, the committee is contemplating requiring Brady’s interactions be monitored by both the NFL and the individual player’s team to keep him honest, per Fischer’s report.
Chatting with Tom Brady has become more complicated for Chiefs’ QB Patrick Mahomes
Brady is in a unique position as an impartial broadcaster as well as a part-owner of the Raiders. The NFL approved Brady as a minority owner in the franchise this season, which also happens to be the legendary former quarterback’s debut season in the booth for FOX. Brady received a record-breaking 10-year, $375 million contract from the network to provide analysis alongside play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt.
Sensing an obvious conflict of interest, the NFL issued restrictions for Brady as he embarked on his new career. The future Hall of Famer is barred from observing practices and reviewing game plans. Brady isn’t even allowed to attend broadcast production meetings out of fear that he’d be privy to sensitive information that he could conceivably pass along to the Raiders.
However, following the interview with Mahomes prior to calling the Chiefs game, it apparently occurred to the league that player interviews would provide Brady one-on-one time that could yield valuable football secrets. So, additional restrictions could be added at the next league meeting in December.
In addition to chatting with Mahomes before the Chiefs game, Brady was also seen speaking with Caleb Williams before the Chicago Bears’ rookie took on the Green Bay Packers. And while this all might seem a bit excessive, Brady does stand to make a great deal of money as a minority owner. Additionally, it has been speculated that Brady will be very involved in running the Raiders, with a recent estimate putting his participation at 90 percent.
Still, if Brady’s plan was to pump Mahomes for information, it didn’t work. The Chiefs beat the Raiders 27-20 the following week.
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