Tom Brady gets candid about his dual role as Raiders owner and broadcaster being questioned

Tom Brady's transition to the booth was not a linear process. There were questions about how he would handle a very different arena, despite standing near gridirons like he did for decades in the NFL. However, one subplot to his transition into the media has been his role as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Countless ethical and conflict-of-interest questions have arisen about the attempt to cover something he is actively taking part in. Brady has largely been silent when it comes to the sea of media members asking those questions. That changed on Sept. 24 in his weekly newsletter, in which he responded to the critics.

"With all the success it (football) has given me, I feel I have a moral and ethical duty to the sport... despite what the paranoid and distrustful might believe," Brady wrote. "Rather, it's the place from which my ethical duty emerges: to grow, evolve, and improve the game that has given me everything."

Brady is working in his second year as a member of Fox and has been given a special set of rules governing how he can interact with the teams he covers. Some believe the rules don't go far enough. Others believe you can never have enough rules to solve the issue.

The fear is that Brady can learn something as a member of Fox and leak it to the Raiders to help them win, whether it's something he learned from a previous game he covered with the Kansas City Chiefs, or any other AFC West team.

Over time, he will have more opportunities to learn something to help the Raiders as he covers more players and franchises from the Seattle Seahawks to the Miami Dolphins.

Tom Brady hints at priorities between Fox and Raiders roles

Tom Brady at Cowboys at Bears - Source: Getty

Writing in the same newsletter, the former New England Patriots quarterback was upfront about his goal to balance both roles as a broadcaster and Las Vegas Raiders minority owner.

"If I can bring my knowledge and experience to bear inside the Raiders organization to ensure there’s one more team that does things the right way," Brady wrote.

"And then I can apply it in the booth so millions of people know and enjoy what the right way looks like—then I will have lived up to the expectations I have for myself, and I will have done so in service of a much greater duty," he added

Tom Brady's statement appeared to claim that whatever he learned by helping the Raiders, he would use to help his commentary. By extension, he would be leveling the playing field league-wide.

However, it still would leave teams behind the others, whether it's the team he covered that he can speak about for Fox or his work with the Raiders that he can use to help inform his explanations as a broadcaster.

Such a statement hints that Tom Brady would be willing to prioritize his broadcasting career over his role as a minority owner of the Raiders. Of course, such a declaration might put him at odds with the Las Vegas Raiders organization, which doesn't keep all sides happy.

There appears to be no way for Tom Brady to keep all three interests happy without taking from one or the other. If he reveals too much as a broadcaster, it puts him at odds with the Raiders. If he doesn't reveal enough, it puts him at odds with the fans and Fox. If he leaves the Raiders or Fox unhappy, it hurts his own interests.

Meanwhile, if he learns something through his coverage that he doesn't tell the Raiders, he risks hurting his own bottom line if he lets his investment struggle when he can help.

Put simply, Tom Brady appears to be stuck in the middle of a checkmate of his own making.