This may seem like a betrayal to some Patriots fans, but a stake in the Raiders was too good for Tom Brady to pass up

It's like Luke Skywalker buying a piece of the Galactic Empire. The Raiders' home field, Allegiant Stadium, is nicknamed the “Death Star.”

To some die-hard Patriots fans, this might feel like a betrayal of Brady as the greatest player in franchise history goes to bed with the Raiders. These instinctive feelings are valid, but once logic wins out, it's just business. This does not diminish Brady's legacy or his accomplishments as the centerpiece of the Patriots' six Super Bowl ring dynasty.

Brady is simply doing what he did all those years on the field for the Patriots and later for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with whom he won his seventh Super Bowl after parting ways with Bill Belichick – surveying the field, opening up recognize and execute a great play for a win.

When it comes to the afterlife of athletes, everything is business as usual. Legends switch allegiances once their playing days are over. Red Sox slugger Ted Williams managed the Washington Senators/Texas Rangers. Celtics expert Bill Russell later became general manager and coach of the Seattle SuperSonics and Sacramento Kings. Celtics superstar Larry Bird became coach and president of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers.

New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter, the Brady of baseball at the time, was a partner and CEO of the Miami Marlins.

That doesn't mean you have to like it, but you have to accept it and look at it from the right perspective.

Of course, that's harder when it comes to the Raiders, one of the most despicable franchises in sports. It's hard to blame anyone if their stomach turned when the Raiders posted a video of Brady entering their team facility and being greeted by Raider staff, or when they saw Brady on the letterhead of the Raiders posted a message on social media.

It's especially hard to swallow because it was less than five months ago that Brady received a royal homecoming at Gillette Stadium and was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame. Tom Brady Night on June 12th was a joyful remembrance and celebration in honor of Brady. Brady closed it with the emotional declaration: “I am Tom Brady and I am a patriot.”

Now he's a raider and owner of a rival team.

However, it's important to remember that Brady's purchase, which took 17 months to get approved, was already in the works before Tom Brady Night.

Additionally, Brady already had dealings with Raiders owner Mark Davis, the son of the late Raiders doyen Al Davis of Brockton. Brady owns a minority stake in the WNBA franchise Las Vegas Aces.

Still, it would have been nice if Brady could have bought a piece of the Patriots. If he's like family, as Patriots owner Robert Kraft says, then why don't we keep him in the family and make sure he isn't associated with any other franchise?

There are also 30 other franchises that Brady could have bought into. From the Patriots' perspective, it's hard to find someone more unpleasant to put their money on.

One could argue that Brady already owned the Raiders thanks to the tuck rule in the famous 2001 AFC Divisional Playoff game at snowy Foxboro Stadium. It is memorialized in Patriots lore and arguably the play that established both Brady's legend and the Patriots' dynasty, thanks to a technicality that turned Brady's season-ending fumble into a harmless, incomplete pass.

Brady said he feared Belichick would have gone back to Drew Bledsoe if that fateful play had been ruled a fumble because the starter and NFL history would be completely different. Thank you, Walt Coleman.

But most of the Patriots' history with the Raiders is less pleasant than the tuck rule and Al Davis' gift of Randy Moss in 2007.

Brady is part of the team that benefited from referee Ben Dreith robbing the Patriots in the 1976 playoffs with a Phantom to beat up the passer call, an injustice that fans of a certain age will never get over.

He owns the team of Jack Tatum, who shut down Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley in a preseason game and showed little remorse. He owns the team that exploited the potential of Jim Plunkett, the Patriots' No. 1 overall pick in the 1971 NFL Draft, and turned him into a two-time Super Bowl winner. He owns the team that took over the Hall of Fame career of cornerback Mike Haynes after acquiring him from the Patriots in 1983, making Haynes synonymous with the Raiders.

Why did it have to be the Raiders, Tom?

Look on the bright side, at least we don't have to worry about seeing the 47-year-old Brady in a Miami Dolphins uniform this season or any other. He can't come out of retirement and play again unless he sells his share of the Silver and Black.

It should be noted that Brady isn't the only Patriots Hall of Famer who now owns a piece of the Raiders. Defensive lineman Richard Seymour, who joined the Raiders in a trade before the 2009 season, also received minority ownership approval.

Brady and Seymour became just the fifth and sixth former players in the NFL's 104-year history to become owners, joining Chicago Bears founder George Halas Sr., former Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, Warrick Dunn ( Minority share of the Atlanta Falcons) and John Stallworth (Pittsburgh Steelers share).

It's rare for NFL owners to welcome help into their midst.

For the greatest quarterback of all time, this opportunity was too good to pass up, even if we wished he could.

Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @cgasper and on Instagram @cgaspersports.