Robert Spillane didn’t hide how Tom Brady’s “dog in the fight” comment landed in New England.
Speaking earlier today on WEEI in Boston, the Patriots linebacker was asked whether Brady’s remark bothered other players in the locker room. Spillane made it clear it got to him.
“It irritated me, and it made me feel sad for him, spending 20 years here, obviously, went on to do amazing, great things, not only on the football field but in the community, and to say that he had no care in the world, it irritated me,” Spillane said. “It made me feel sad for him.
But at the end of the day, that was just my personal opinion. Everyone else has their own opinions in the locker room.”
The comment in question came from Brady, the Patriots legend whose statue stands outside the team’s stadium, before the Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl. Asked about the game, Brady said, “I don’t have a dog in the fight.”
Spillane’s reaction was sharper than the one from Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, who recently took a more matter-of-fact view of Brady’s stance. Brady has moved on, Vrabel noted, and he’s with the Raiders now.
Vrabel also acknowledged the possibility that Brady was working with Seattle before the game. Brady’s team was about to hire Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak as its head coach, and Vrabel saw a practical upside to that situation: it would be better for the Raiders if Kubiak arrived with a brand-new Super Bowl ring.
That matters in Las Vegas, where it’s been 43 years since the Raiders last won one of their own.
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