That image of Tom Brady sitting in the Raiders coaches’ box with a headset during Monday Night Football didn’t sit well with everyone.

Rodney Harrison, Brady’s former teammate from those New England Super Bowl teams, wasn’t having it. Neither was Tony Dungy, who spent years as an NFL head coach and knows exactly what kind of information flows through those production meetings Brady now attends every week.

Both went on NBC’s Football Night in America and joined the chorus of what’s starting to become the consensus of those in sports media, which is that Brady’s dual role as Fox broadcaster and Raiders minority owner is a massive conflict of interest that the NFL keeps pretending doesn’t exist.

Harrison has a unique perspective here. He played 15 years in the NFL, but he’s been broadcasting for 17 years now, which gives him intimate knowledge of what media members actually have access to and how much the average fan is unaware of.

“When it first panned to him with the headphones on, I’m saying, ‘He’s talking to one of the coaches. He’s giving them tremendous insight,’” Harrison said. “And as a player/businessman, I understand that Tom’s going to take advantage of every opportunity that he gets. I played 15 years in the league, but I’ve been a broadcaster for 17 years. And it’s definitely a conflict of interest.”

“When we walk on that field, we get so much information,” the former New England Patriots safety continued. “We get all the behind-the-scenes information… The average fan has no idea the type of information we’re getting. We’re getting information on players’ health, how a team was built, and how tough a guy is. You could talk to scouts, coaches, general managers, and just people within the organization. They’re going to give you this information.

“And Tom Brady’s a smart dude. He’s gonna use this. He’s gonna use it. It’s human nature to use the information. If he talks to Howie Roseman, or Howie tells him how he builds a team, you don’t think he’s going to take that back to the Raiders and use the same thing? And just think about free agency. If somebody told him, ‘Oh, this guy’s not very tough.’ When that guy becomes a free agent, he already knows, ‘Hey, I’m gonna back away from that.’ So, it’s definitely a conflict of interest.”

The sight of Brady with that headset on particularly bothered Harrison because it made clear this wasn’t some passive ownership role.

“It was just very uncomfortable when I saw him with the headphones on, because as an owner, I’m sitting back thinking that he’s gonna be in some suite, engaging in conversation, enjoying the game, and entertaining,” Harrison added. “And then you see Tom Brady up there with full-on headphones, so you know he’s talking back-and-forth to Chip Kelly offering advice.”

Dungy reinforced Harrison’s point with a concrete example from their recent broadcast work. He explained how NBC’s crew had conversations with Atlanta Falcons personnel that included information about not just their own players, but how they planned to attack the Minnesota Vikings. If Brady got that kind of intelligence and the Raiders played Minnesota later in the season, he’d have inside information that no other owner could access.

“That’s not the problem,” the ex-Colts and Bucs head coach noted. “Carlie Irsay is on the sideline for the Colts, and she’s got headphones on. Him being in the booth is not the problem. The problem is he gets to go around to the other 31 teams and get information that no other owner is going to be able to get.”

The NBC analysts’ warnings aren’t hypothetical anymore. Former Raiders coach Antonio Pierce basically confirmed everything they were worried about during a SiriusXM appearance this week, saying Brady was already sharing information during Pierce’s tenure with the team.

“You’d be foolish enough to think that he’s not gonna share that with the Raiders because we had those conversations about certain things,” Pierce told Adam Schein. “He was very informative about things that he knew or he felt, and that’s why you bring a guy like Tom Brady into your organization to be a minority owner.”

Even Pierce, who benefited from Brady’s intelligence, acknowledged he’d be concerned if the situation were reversed.

“I would be nervous,” Pierce admitted. “I think I would be tight-lipped, which I think most head coaches are when they go into production meetings.”

The NFL relaxed Brady’s broadcasting restrictions before this season, allowing him back into production meetings after initially limiting his access due to his Raiders ownership. But Monday night’s image of Brady in the coaches’ box with a headset may have been the most damaging visual possible at the worst possible time.

“So, it’s definitely a conflict of interest. It made me feel a little uncomfortable when I saw it. And I think it’s an unfair advantage for the Raiders and Tom Brady. And the league (has) given him a pass,” Harrison said.

The question now is how long the NFL keeps giving him that pass.