Robert Spillane didn’t hide how Tom Brady’s pre-Super Bowl LX comment landed with him.
Before the New England Patriots met the Seattle Seahawks in February, Brady was asked which team he was pulling for and replied, “I don’t have a dog in the fight.” Six-plus months later, Spillane said the line still bothered 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 on WEEI on Friday. “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.”
Spillane joined New England on a three-year, $33 million deal in March 2025 after beginning his NFL career as an undrafted free agent with the Tennessee Titans in 2018. He also spent time with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Las Vegas Raiders before landing with the Patriots.
Brady’s place in Patriots history is not exactly up for debate. Drafted in the sixth round in 2000, he spent 20 years with New England, led the team to nine Super Bowls and won six of them. He later signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2020 offseason and won another Super Bowl in his first year there.
Brady retired in February 2023 and has spent the past two seasons as a Fox analyst.
The Patriots also honored him in August 2025 by unveiling a statue outside Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The sculpture stands 12 feet tall, or 17 feet including its base, and was built to recognize his career and jersey number with the franchise.
The Seahawks beat the Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX.
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