Tom Brady is getting attention as a broadcaster after fans saw him sitting in the Las Vegas Raiders’ coaching booth during Monday Night Football. His presence in the game raised many eyebrows because he took part in the Raiders’ football operations while also serving as a minority owner of the team. Some people also worried it could be a conflict of interest. The Dallas Cowboys‘ newly inducted head coach, Brian Schottenheimer, cleared the air about what he thinks might be Brady’s agenda.

As a broadcaster for FOX, Brady takes part in production meetings where sensitive team information is shared. Since he’s also tied to the Raiders, critics felt that might be unfair. Schottenheimer, while discussing the same, said, “What Tom does with his ownership position is up to Tom but in terms of me being concerned about something I might say to Tom getting back to (Raiders head coach Pete Carroll), I think Pete and I know each other very well.”  

The NFL later cleared up the situation. The league explained that owners are allowed to sit in the coaching booth during games. However, they also said Brady is still not allowed to visit team facilities for practices or attend production meetings in person. Instead, he can only join those meetings remotely.

Despite the league’s stance, however, controversy continues, and we’re hearing many NFL personalities weigh in on the topic. Brady will be on the call for Week 3’s matchup versus the Chicago Bears-meaning he’ll talk to Schottenheimer in preparation for the weekend. The Cowboys coach offered a strong and reasonable opinion.

Brian Schottenheimer stays away from drama

One of the reasons why Schottenheimer isn’t concerned is because of the new Raiders head coach, Pete Carroll high level of familiarity with Schottenheimer, who was Schottenheimer’s offensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks from 2018-2020. At his Dallas introductory press conference, Schottenheimer identified Carroll as one of his biggest football mentors, and on Wednesday, he revealed his viral postgame celebration after his first win with the Cowboys in Week 2 was inspired by Carroll as well.

“I’m not even going to talk to Tom,” Schottenheimer joked before getting serious. “Everybody has everybody’s playbook, everybody knows somebody that knows somebody that’s been some place. I don’t have a problem with it. Some people might but look, I’ll talk football with anybody. I love the game.” 

Schottenheimer’s opinion is the same as the NFL’s, so the Cowboys are not worried about Brady using his broadcasting job to “spy” on them. Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson feels the same way, even though his team will play the Raiders right after facing the Bears in Week 4.

Johnson also advocated for Carroll. He said that he is not going to disclose any of his “trade secrets” to Tom Brady. Johnson elaborated that Carroll is always in coach-speak mode whenever addressing the media, and this means he has to choose his words well so that he will not reveal vital information. This is a traditional approach used by the NFL coaches to protect their team from unnecessary trouble, without creating a lot of drama.