Tom Brady may not be playing in the Super Bowl, but he remains a topic of discussion as the New England Patriots prepare to face the Seattle Seahawks this week.
Brady raised eyebrows this week when he decided not to pledge his support for the Patriots in this weekend’s NFL season finale at Levi’s Stadium.
The former Patriots quarterback spent 20 seasons in Foxborough, where he led the franchise to six Super Bowl championships alongside Bill Belichick to create one of the league’s greatest dynasties.
“I don’t have a dog in this fight,” Brady said ‘Let’s go!’ Sirius XM Podcast with Jim Gray.
“May the best team win.”
Brady left the Patriots at the end of the 2019 season when he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he won his seventh Super Bowl ring in his first season.
That would spark the beginning of a rebuild for the Patriots, which would reveal their long-term answer at quarterback last year when the Patriots drafted Drake May with the third overall pick.
May has since found himself in surprising MVP contention as he led Mike Vrabel’s Patriots back to the Super Bowl as AFC East champions.
“Personally, it makes me sick,” Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane said of Brady’s comments Thursday.
“He is, and he has a dog in the fight. For him to say that, it is what it is. But at the end of the day, he’s the owner of the Las Vegas Raiders now. So he’s got to do what’s best for him.”
Former Brady right-hand man Rob Gronkowski contradicted his old friend on Wednesday as he hailed a return to Super Bowl relevance for the Patriots.
“He probably wants to be a quarterback,” Gronkowski said ‘Up & Adams’ by Kay Adams.
“He’s so competitive. He probably wants to be the guy in the Super Bowl right now.”
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Super Bowl LX will see a rematch of the 2015 meeting between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks that saw late drama as Malcolm Butler made a last-second interception to deny the Seahawks the game-winning touchdown
Gronkowski served as Brady’s most trusted target during their time together in New England, winning three Super Bowls at Gillette Stadium before reuniting with the league’s greatest player ever to win a fourth ring in Tampa Bay.
“I root for the Patriots,” Gronkowski added. “What’s great about the Patriots being in the Super Bowl is that it shows, it brings back how dominant the Patriots are.”
“And there are a lot of fans who are angry that the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl, which is great for us. Because it brings them back to being angry about how many times we’ve won.”
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Brady’s comments prompted a number of disgruntled former Patriots to take aim at the 48-year-old, including two-time Super Bowl champion Vince Wilfork.
“That’s bullshit, Tom,” Wilfork said on a Boston radio station WEEE. “This is not political. It is not political, what it is. There are no robbers in it. Say what it is, what you see.”
“At the end of the day, if you’re a lifelong Patriot, you know what it is. Don’t give me that political whore. It is what it is. If you don’t think we’re going to win, then just pick Seattle. Don’t hang on the fence.”
Brady is a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, who are expected to name Seahawks offensive coordinator Clint Kubiak as their new head coach after the Super Bowl.
Watch the New England Patriots vs. the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Sunday, February 8, with coverage beginning at 10:00 PM on Sky Spots NFL before kickoff at approximately 11:30 PM