The NFL, the same league that a decade ago spent two years and millions of dollars in an attempt to discredit and ultimately ban its most successful and popular player, then-New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, is now taking extraordinary measures to make Brady’s new job easier for him, according to a new NFL announcement this week.
In the so-called “Deflategate” affair, Brady was accused of ordering the footballs used in a game to be deflated beyond NFL specifications. Though the NFL never found any evidence that Brady gave any such order to Patriots equipment managers, or that the footballs used in the 2014 AFC Championship game had actually been deflated.
Decade After Deflategate, NFL Allows Brady to Bend Rules
But the NFL suspended Brady four four games anyway, a suspension that took effect to start the 2016 season, over what a later ESPN report called, “at best, a relatively minor rules violation that no rational person would link to the Patriots’ victory two weeks later in Super Bowl XLIX.”
Outside of 2008 when a serious knee injury kept Brady sidelined for the entire season, those four were the only games Brady missed in the 22 years since he took over the Patriots starting job from an injured Drew Bledsoe in the second game of the 2001 campaign.
By 2025, more than 10 years since Brady was first accused of “deflating footballs” and nine years since he served his punishment for the alleged infraction, the NFL is now modifying its own rules to allow Brady to serve in a dual role as minority owner of an NFL team, and a supposedly unbiased broadcaster of nationally televised NFL games.
Double Duty as Owner and ‘Unbiased’ Broadcaster
The year 2024, the initial season of his 10-year, $375 million contract with Fox Sports to perform as an in-booth analyst on the network’s featured weekly NFL game broadcasts, also contained another big development in Brady’s post-playing career.
The NFL approved Brady’s bid to purchase a five-percent ownership interest in the Las Vegas Raiders on October 15. But as an owner, albeit a minority owner, Brady was restricted from taking part in informational meetings with coaches and players from other teams as part of his broadcasting duties. Such meetings are routine for NFL broadcasters as part of their preparation for live game broadcasts.
Because Brady’s situation as an owner and TV commentator was unique, the NFL’s restrictions on his participation were referred to as “The Brady Rules.”
But now the Brady rules have been changed.
Brady May Take Meetings With Opposing Coaches
Brady will now be allowed to take part in pre-game meetings with coaches, players and officials from non-Raider teams, though his participation will be remote-only, via video call.
âThe ability to join and be able to talk to a coach, coordinators or players and help him prepare for his job was one that felt like a natural step forward,â NFL executive vice president Hans Schroeder told The Associated Press Wednesday.
Brady will continue to be barred from attending team practices or enter training facilities for teams other than the Raiders.
Brady as Broadcaster Called ‘Embarrassment’
Why is the NFL, which once singled Brady out for special persecution, now bending over backwards to give him a gift?
One theory came from Tom Ley, editor-in-chief of the sports news and commentary site Defector, who called Brady’s sometimes halting performance in the booth during his debut season “such an embarrassment for everyoneâBrady, Fox, the league itselfâthat unprecedented steps are now being taken to help Brady get his act together.”
As a result, wrote Ley, the NFL became “desperate to get some kind of interesting thought out of this guy’s head and over the airwaves,” and made changes to their “Brady Rules.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post NFL Announcement Gives Tom Brady Questionable Gift appeared first on Heavy Sports.