A brief comment from Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald has set off a wave of Patriots chatter, and Tom Brady’s name quickly got pulled into the middle of it.
Macdonald recently appeared on "The Dan Patrick Show" and was asked whether anyone helped him prepare for Seattle’s Super Bowl LX matchup against the New England Patriots. His answer was careful, but it still left room for speculation.
"I probably can't mention one guy that really helped us out who had some conflict of interest," Macdonald said.
That was enough for Dave Portnoy to jump in on X and take a shot at the whole situation.
"If this doesn’t piss you off as a Patriots fan you are dead on this inside. Im not going to say who they are saying gave a ton of advice to the Seahawks before the Superbowl but the guy has a statue in front of our stadium. What a joke, said the Barstool Sports founder.
Zac Stevens echoed that sentiment.
"Peyton Manning would never do this to the Broncos," wrote the NFL analyst.
Macdonald did shut down speculation that the adviser was former Patriots coach Bill Belichick, which only fueled more guessing about whether Brady might have been the mystery name. Brady, of course, won six Super Bowl rings with New England.
But according to radio host Zach Gelb, Patriots fans can relax.
"I reached out to Mike Macdonald to get clarification on his comments,” Gelb said.
"I asked if (Brady) was the person with the ‘conflict of interest’ that gave input to the Seahawks before the Super Bowl. Mike told me it wasn’t Brady that he was talking about in the interview."
On the field, Seattle handled New England in Super Bowl LX. Kenneth Walker III was named MVP after piling up 135 rushing yards and two receptions for 26 yards. The Seahawks defense also kept Drake Maye in check, limiting him to 295 passing yards and two interceptions.
Brady, meanwhile, is already looking ahead to 2026 in his dual role as a FOX Sports analyst and minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. He took on both jobs after retiring from the NFL, and he has stayed active on the team side of things.
Brady helped push former Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak into the Raiders’ head coaching job and also played a part in the team’s decision to take Fernando Mendoza with the first pick of the 2026 draft.
The Raiders are coming off a 3-14 season in 2025, the worst record in the league, which landed them the reigning Heisman Trophy winner. Brady is not exactly used to being around losing football, and the Raiders will need a major jump if they want to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
That won’t be easy in the AFC West, where the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers are all waiting.
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