Entry as a shareholder
Tom Brady is buying his way back into the NFL
05/23/2023, 09:42 am
Tom Brady is the greatest football player in history, the one-time quarterback has won more titles than anyone else and holds a multitude of records. Now Brady, who announced his retirement for the second time earlier this year, is returning to the NFL.
Quarterback legend Tom Brady joins the Las Vegas Raiders. The seven-time Super Bowl champion will become a shareholder in the NFL franchise, owner Mark Davis confirmed to ESPN. “We are delighted that Tom is joining the Raiders,” said the entrepreneur. The professional football league has yet to approve the deal. Brady, who retired in the spring after 23 seasons in the NFL, is only the third former player after George Halas and Jerry Richardson to acquire shares in an NFL club. Davis, who brought the Raiders from Oakland to the gambling city, also owns the Las Vegas Aces, WNBA Women’s Basketball Champion. Brady has also been a minority shareholder there since March.
Brady, the most successful football professional of all time, was supposed to be part of the Raiders as early as 2020, freshly moved from Oakland to Las Vegas – at that time still an active player. But the coach at the time, Joe Gruden, intervened and nothing came of an engagement. Instead, Brady played two more seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady had reportedly previously expressed interest in a minority stake in the Miami Dolphins. However, a six-month NFL investigation found that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and vice chairman and partner Bruce Beal violated the league’s anti-tampering guidelines when speaking with Brady. The Dolphins were subsequently stripped of their first-round draft pick for last month’s draft.
ESPN even brought up the rumor that there could be mind games after which the quarterback could even return to the field – but immediately denied it again. “Brady, who was sidelined for 41 days last season, is not expected to play again,” the broadcaster writes. “And even if he did, a dual role with the Raiders would have to be approved by the NFL owners.”
The Raiders had recently signed a new quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo – and given the former San Francisco 49ers playmaker a five-year contract of up to $67.5 million. “Jimmy G” once started his NFL career with the New England Patriots, as a chanceless challenger to Tom Brady. Brady won six Super Bowls with New England and another with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before retiring after 23 seasons in the NFL with the most passing records last season. And this time probably final: Brady had already announced the end of his career at the beginning of 2022, but he backed out just 40 days later and added a moderately successful year to it.
Brady was originally supposed to celebrate his return to the NFL as a TV pundit, but now things are going a little faster. The 10-year, $375 million deal with Fox to broadcast NFL games, scheduled to run beginning in the 2024 season, will remain unaffected by the investment in the Raiders, it said. Fox has approved the agreement, writes ESPN.