Tom Brady’s influence has been all over the Raiders this offseason, even as he hasn’t been a constant presence in their building.
That’s been part of the plan for the franchise under team owner Mark Davis, who recently added Brady and a few others as limited partners.
In an interview with Vinny Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal in Minnesota this week, Davis said he “absolutely” believes the ownership additions are having a positive impact.
“And that’s why the changes were made,” Davis said. “And it was a battle to get it done. It took four years to actually get Tom into the building and bring in that expertise and that confidence that we’re talking about. I think it started there. And obviously, the other additions that were made, and then getting someone like Chip Kelly. And I said, OK, there’s some stability here, we’re building something. There is a vision, and Tom does have vision. I don’t think there’s anybody more competitive, that I know of, than Tom Brady.”
Davis added that the ownership additions were made to bring infrastructure to the club.
“Tom was brought in initially for the football side of the building,” Davis said. “Somebody who is going to be there for a long, long time. Not as a president, but someone who’s got skin in the game. Egon [Durban], [Michael] Meldman, and [Tom] Wagner were brought in for their business acumen off the field. They have ideas on the field as well, but off the field, they’re brilliant, brilliant businessmen. Our president, Sandra Douglass Morgan, is doing a phenomenal job, but we also needed to bring in people who understand the bigger picture.”
The team has not yet played a game under new head coach Pete Carroll and General Manager John Spytek, but the offseason vibe under the team’s new leadership has been good.
“It’s been fun. It’s been fantastic,” Davis said of working with Carroll and Spytek. “Again, I’ve grown up around football my whole life. And around people who understand football. I don’t want to go back into the whole Jon Gruden thing, but again, Jon was somebody who understood football, and that’s where I tried to go. But it didn’t work. I haven’t gotten it right, and hopefully this time I will. I love Pete Carroll. I’ve watched him from afar for many, many years.
“John, I’ve just gotten to know. I think he’s a special person, somebody who can be here for a long, long time.”
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