The NFL’s Conflicts of Interest

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Football with stacks of money

The Packers won a crucial game against the formerly first place Bears on Sunday behind three touchdown passes from Jordan Love, all against the Bears’ blitz. Running back Josh Jacobs chipped in a score of his own, including a run in which he cut so sharply that four Bears defenders crashed into each other as they attempted to keep up.

The Bears staged a furious comeback in the second half as head coach Ben Johnson shifted his strategy to emphasize inside zone runs from running backs Kyle Monangai and D’Andre Swift, while moving quarterback Caleb Williams out of the pocket to buy extra time on passing plays. It worked well as the Packer defense looked exhausted down the stretch, however Johnson outsmarted himself, which ultimately cost the Bears the game.

On their final offensive play, Johnson had Caleb Williams roll out to his left while tight end Cole Kmet leaked out and came across the back of the end zone late. It’s a great play design, and incredibly hard to defend, however the Bears also ran the exact same play last week, and at least one Packer did his film work. That player was Keisean Nixon, who was responsible for Bears’ receiver DJ Moore on the play, but alertly recognized exactly what was happening and abandoned Moore to pick up Kmet, undercutting the route, and picking off the pass.

On the Fly

There’s a good chance that the Bears would have won the game had Nixon not adjusted on the fly. Kmet would have been wide open, and the Bears likely would have gone for a game-winning two-point conversion instead of the PAT. Two-point tries are not sure things, but the Packers were having such a hard time shutting down the run that the Bears would have been prohibitive favorites in that situation.

All of that said, the game was only as close as it was because of some truly bizarre officiating. It is cliché to blame the officials for the outcome of a sporting event, but the amount of holding that Micah Parsons has had to endure is getting ridiculous to the point that head coach Matt LaFleur publicly complained about it after the game. Holding calls are more art than science, and to some extent you could make the call almost every play, but when Parsons is held it’s often extremely obvious, and more often than not in front of an official. The lack of holding calls in this game was huge for the Bears, as they struggle to generate pressure in all situations, and so it served to even the playing field.

But holding is only one issue. With 5:47 remaining in the first quarter, Caleb Williams hit Colston Loveland for a 13-yard gain, however Loveland was unable to control the ball, and Packer Safety Evan Williams ended up with it. The play was ruled a fumble on the field, but overturned on replay to an incomplete pass, however, there are many problems with this play, and this ruling.

Fumble on the Field

The NFL released their coach’s film (the “all-22 film, from two different angles) the day after the game. I have watched this play from all angles in slow motion, and this should have been ruled an interception by Evan Williams. The ball never hit the ground on any available angle, and it looks like Williams had complete control regardless. As the play was ruled a fumble on the field, there was certainly no evidence to overturn the call, and it should have been Packers’ ball.

The NFL and all major sports have embraced gambling, and the additional revenue that gambling interest brings, but that comes at a cost because it creates a significant conflict of interest. The NBA and Major League Baseball have had recent gambling scandals, and to some extent this is now inevitable. The best thing to do would be sever those relationships and ideally eliminate online gambling, but failing that, the league needs a shift away from its current practice of protecting referees from public scrutiny, to one of transparency.

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Photo by Joe Glorioso - All-Pro Reels via Wikimedia Commons

Tom Brady

LANDOVER, MD - Tom Brady arrives at Northwest Stadium as part of the FOX NFL broadcasting team (Sept. 7, 2025).

And this leads to the second major conflict of interest. Tom Brady was calling this game for Fox, and Tom Brady is also a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. Because of his ownership affiliation, he has restrictions on how critical he can be of the league, and the officials while calling games. Brady’s compromised nature stuck out like a sore thumb on this sequence because, even in real time it appeared that the officials got the call wrong, or at the very least, there was some ambiguity, but Fox compounded the issue by refusing to show the replay that led to the call being overturned while Brady expressed support for the ruling.

Brady often sounds robotic while calling games, and while that may just be his personality, it’s just as likely that the restrictions on what he can and cannot say stifle him from reporting anything interesting or controversial. It also seems suspicious when you never cast doubt on anything that happens on the field. Packer tight end Luke Musgrave also had a 34-yard catch overturned on replay just a few plays later, and again it hardly seemed conclusive, but you would never know that from Brady’s commentary.

Sports are not politics and conflicts of interest may seem less important than in other areas of life, but one of the reasons we enjoy sports is because of the rules, and the idea that they are enforced fairly without any additional agenda. Gambling has already put a dent in this ideal for many people, but Brady is making things worse. I can abide by an announcer who has a difference of opinion, but I don’t appreciate someone lying to my face on national TV.