The extreme access restrictions immediately placed about future Raiders owner Tom Brady as Fox announcer weren’t punishments. They were messages.

The league’s unequivocal and unequivocal statement that Brady will not be allowed to enter team facilities, attend practices or participate in production meetings is a harbinger. If/when it ever comes time to vote on his bid to buy (along with Hall of Famer Richard Seymour and their mutual partners) 10.4 percent of the Raiders, at least nine owners will say no.

Why wouldn’t they? The restrictions they’ve placed on Brady undermine Fox’s biggest broadcast of the week. And the NFL has a vested interest in making sure the broadcasts are as good as they can be. During the recent Sunday Ticket lawsuit, commissioner Roger Goodell explained that the NFL is out of the Thursday Evening Football because the league could not produce and broadcast matches that met the league’s standards.

Could Brady survive by NFL standards without access? Maybe. But no matter how he performs without access, he would have been better with it.

By imposing the restrictions on Brady, the league wants him to make the right decision himself, and if he doesn’t, they’ll ultimately make it for him.

Again, that’s only nine. If 32 owners are willing to make it dramatically harder for Fox and Brady to produce a quality broadcast every week, then at least nine of them will be willing to eliminate the problem entirely by preventing Brady from joining Club Oligarch.