Amid mounting concern for the NFL’s Tom Brady problem, Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer had no issue talking football with the Fox broadcaster this week.
Brady and Kevin Burkhardt will be in Chicago to call the Bears matchup with Dallas this Sunday afternoon. And as permitted by the NFL, Brady was able to take part in production meetings with coaches and players, despite being a minority owner with the Las Vegas Raiders.
During his weekly segment with Dallas sports radio hosts Shan Shariff and RJ Choppy Friday morning, Schottenheimer was asked about meeting with Brady and whether everyone is overreacting to the apparent conflict of interest that comes from being broadcaster and owner.
“Everybody’s got their own opinion. I talked to Tom yesterday and Kevin Burkhardt and Erin Andrews and their producers and stuff. I’m very open with all those guys,” Schottenheimer said before going on to downplay the conflict of interest. “There’s no secrets in this business, guys. Let’s be honest, Pete Carroll and I know each other as well as anybody. Pete has three of my playbooks. I know Pete, I know what Pete is saying to his team.
“The questions that Tom and those guys ask, it’s to do a job. So, I have no problem with it. I think each person has their own opinion and if there’s some people that feel like it’s an advantage for Tom and the Raiders then that’s for them, but I know I’m always going to be very open with all the people that do it because I’m a football junkie…I have no problem with Tom and don’t feel like it’s a conflict of interest on my end.”
The conflict of interest concerns were heightened this past week, after Brady was in the booth for Fox on Sunday, and in the coaches’ box with a headset on for the Raiders on Monday. Last season, the NFL placed restrictions on Brady as a broadcaster because of his minority stake in the Raiders. This season, however, those restrictions have been relaxed, with Brady allowed to participate in production meetings as long as they’re done remotely. Now it’s up to the coaches to restrict what information they want to share with Brady.
Antonio Pierce thinks the apparent conflict of interest is a big deal, and he’s speaking from experience as the ex-head coach of the Raiders, claiming Brady shared information with him last season. But Schottenheimer feels like its information that’s already available. And the Cowboys do have the Raiders on their schedule later this season, but that’s still not enough for Schottenheimer to be concerned about meeting with Brady.