Tom Brady's recruitment of Ben Johnson is a conflict of interest the NFL wants everyone to ignore

The NFL does not want you to think.

I mean this sentiment generally — football go brr, amirite? — and specifically regarding a burgeoning scandal involving Tom Brady.

As I’m sure many of you already know, the milquetoast Fox lead color commentator who announces games like fictional investment banker Patrick Bateman recalls the crisp music of Huey Lewis and the News, is also a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders, of course, are currently looking for a new head coach. While this is happening, Brady will conveniently call the Detroit Lions’ divisional-round game for Fox this Saturday night as the Raiders reportedly recruit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.

Oh, man, that’s way too fishy.

With Brady’s status as a minority owner of a team seeking Johnson’s services, we have been presented with a massive conflict of interest involving the top head coaching candidate in this cycle. It’s untenable and unacceptable all around. In a just sporting society, this situation would be so damaging to a league that lies to itself (and everyone else) about ethics, integrity, and fair play.

But, as with most things, the NFL will sweep it under the rug.

Because I know, deep down, the league doesn’t want anyone to pay close attention to Brady shamelessly courting Johnson like a male peacock initiating its mating dance, as there was no distinguishable effort to keep Brady away from Detroit in the first place.

From the moment Jayden Daniels’ Washington Commanders secured a last-second win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night, the NFL promoted the official divisional weekend schedule without hesitation. Seriously, the below tweet happened just about 10 minutes after the Commanders’ doinked game-winning field goal.

Not a single authority figure with Fox or the league hesitated to send Brady to Detroit, as reports surfaced that he was doing “all he could” to bring Johnson to Las Vegas. The official schedule, with Brady traveling to Detroit for Fox no matter what, was likely in the works long before the Commanders’ win. 

C’mon. What are we doing here?

The schedule we've all been waiting for #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/Yq9lDjBAX7

— NFL (@NFL) January 13, 2025

Thanks to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, I also know that the NFL, especially, doesn’t take any claims of a conflict of interest seriously.

The information lap dog who usually only tweets and says what people tell him to, like a domesticated house pet who has a Pavlovian response to car keys rattling, er, I mean, “NFL insider,” appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday to talk about the Brady-Johnson situation.

To no one’s surprise, Mr. Company Man (a.k.a. he doesn’t want to burn any bridges with sources or sponsors) downplayed the Brady-Johnson dynamic ahead of the Lions-Commanders playoff matchup. Schefter ultimately said that he thinks “everybody involved is professional enough to do things the right way.”

Truly, what a shocker Schefter believes NFL people are inherently principled.

"Tom Brady is broadcasting the Lions game and that's the way it goes..

Ben Johnson is a primary head coaching candidate in multiple places including Las Vegas..

I think everybody involved is professional enough to do things the right way" ~ @AdamSchefter #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/RwBO2I9m9n

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 13, 2025

It’s fascinating that Schefter is giving Brady and the NFL the benefit of the doubt in what should be a huge scandal. Because it’s really amusing to assert something that naive about the very same league where Spygate, Deflategate, Bountygate, Rooney Rule circumvention, and game safety issue controversies all permeate with loops that have never fully been closed.

(Note: Brady himself was also involved in many of these!)

Why, it’s almost like someone fed such a talking point to Schefter, knowing the Brady-Johnson announcing backlash would come full circle like this. But hey, ESPN — a major NFL broadcasting partner — would never tell its employees what to say on television for a desired narrative or outcome, right?

Sorry, known betting expert, Jason Kelce.

This Brady-Johnson fiasco boils down to a simple but logical conclusion.

There is absolutely, unequivocally, undoubtedly no reason to trust Brady won’t break any recruitment or hiring protocols with someone who might be the NFL’s next great coach. If you genuinely think Brady won’t try to use his super convenient broadcasting assignment this weekend as a conduit to strengthen his connection with Johnson behind the scenes, I want you and your community to start thinking about building a fully functional monorail.

I swear, it’s exactly what y’all need to repair Main Street!

Brady is clearly getting a different set of rules to play by. Even in retirement, he remains the NFL’s Golden Boy. And if he wants covert help securing a genius coach with no one batting an eyelash, well, the NFL has a message for anyone who cries foul at the idea.

Please disperse. There’s nothing to see here. Football go brr.