- May 21, 2026
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Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald made a bit of a stir on Thursday, when he told Dan Patrick that the Seahawks got help from someone with a "conflict of interest" when preparing to face the Patriots in Super Bowl LX.
The use of the phrase "conflict of interest" prompted many to conclude that the person in question was the man as to whom that phrase has been used repeatedly in recent months, given his partial ownership of the Raiders and his role as an analyst covering the rest of the league (and having unique access to many other teams) for Fox. Radio host Zach Gelb reports that Macdonald says it wasn't Tom Brady, who had already angered plenty of Patriots fans before the game by saying he didn't have a "dog in fight."
"I reached out to Mike Macdonald to get clarification on his comments," Gelb tweeted. "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."
That may not change the minds of pissed-off Pats fans. Many will assume Macdonald is simply putting the toothpaste back in the tube. (We've got no reason to think Macdonald isn't telling the truth, but nowadays truth is irrelevant to what people choose to believe.)
Although Brady last played for the Patriots in 2019, the team still uses the system he knows better than any — the Josh McDaniels offense. And Brady, who was poised to hire Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak to coach the Raiders, presumably preferred having the new coach bring the cachet of a Super Bowl win to a franchise that hasn't been to one in 24 years, and that has had only two one-and-down playoff appearances since then.
If it wasn't Brady, who was it? It would have been someone who would have been able to help either with the McDaniels offense or Patriots coach Mike Vrabel's defense, with enough of a connection to get Macdonald to call it a "conflict of interest."
Whoever it was, there can't be many who would get that label.
The use of the phrase "conflict of interest" prompted many to conclude that the person in question was the man as to whom that phrase has been used repeatedly in recent months, given his partial ownership of the Raiders and his role as an analyst covering the rest of the league (and having unique access to many other teams) for Fox. Radio host Zach Gelb reports that Macdonald says it wasn't Tom Brady, who had already angered plenty of Patriots fans before the game by saying he didn't have a "dog in fight."
"I reached out to Mike Macdonald to get clarification on his comments," Gelb tweeted. "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."
That may not change the minds of pissed-off Pats fans. Many will assume Macdonald is simply putting the toothpaste back in the tube. (We've got no reason to think Macdonald isn't telling the truth, but nowadays truth is irrelevant to what people choose to believe.)
Although Brady last played for the Patriots in 2019, the team still uses the system he knows better than any — the Josh McDaniels offense. And Brady, who was poised to hire Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak to coach the Raiders, presumably preferred having the new coach bring the cachet of a Super Bowl win to a franchise that hasn't been to one in 24 years, and that has had only two one-and-down playoff appearances since then.
If it wasn't Brady, who was it? It would have been someone who would have been able to help either with the McDaniels offense or Patriots coach Mike Vrabel's defense, with enough of a connection to get Macdonald to call it a "conflict of interest."
Whoever it was, there can't be many who would get that label.