Seahawks coach walks back Tom Brady Super Bowl ‘conflict of interest’ claim amid fan outrage

Mike Macdonald unintentionally got himself involved in a media storm last week.

The Seattle Seahawks head coach made an appearance on Thursday’s edition of The Dan Patrick Show, where he stated that his team had received some help from someone with a ‘conflict of interest’ during their preparations to face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.

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Due to his chosen vocabulary, many assumed that he was referring to that of Tom Brady, the former Patriots superstar who won six of his seven Super Bowl rings as the quarterback of the Boston-based franchise.

Ahead of that match-up, Brady – now a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, as well as a $375million analyst for Fox – had made claims ahead of the big game that he ‘didn’t have a dog in the fight.‘

People ultimately put two-and-two together and decided it was Brady who had provided the help to Macdonald, as Seattle stormed to an emphatic 29-13 victory over New England.

This left some, including Patriots super fan and Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy raging.

“If this doesn’t p*** you off as a Patriots fan you are dead on this inside,” the Barstool Sports founder wrote on X, quoting a video of the Seahawks discussion on the Dan Patrick Show.

“I’m not going to say who they are saying gave a ton of advice to the Seahawks before the Super Bowl, but the guy has a statue in front of our stadium. What a joke.”

However, all doesn’t appear to be as it seems.

This comes as radio host Zach Gelb reported on X that it was not Brady who Macdonald was referring to after all.

“I reached out to Mike Macdonald to get clarification on his comments on the Dan Patrick Show,” Gelb posted to X on Friday.

“I asked if [Brady] was the person with the ‘conflict of interest’ that gave input to the Seahawks before the Super Bowl.

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“Mike told me it wasn’t Brady that he was talking about in the interview.”

While the mystery man remains a mystery, the Seahawks won only their second championship in franchise history.

Besides, Brady has his hands full with transforming the Raiders back into relevancy as they embark on a new era of their own with No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza at the helm.

Seahawks undergoing huge changes ahead of 2026 season

Shortly after the season ended, though, Macdonald and the Seahawks lost offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, coincidentally to Las Vegas.

This comes as Brady and the rest of the Raiders brass handpicked him to be their new head coach after the firing of Pete Carroll during the NFL’s ‘Black Monday.‘

They also lost Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III in free agency, the 25-year-old deciding to join the Kansas City Chiefs.

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They therefore opted to use their first round pick, No.32 overall, on Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price in an effort to somewhat mitigate the gaping hole in the backfield alongside quarterback Sam Darnold.

The franchise will also be ushering in new ownership after it was announced on Saturday that the team had been purchased by Vinod Khosla for an NFL-record $9.612 billion.

The unprecedented decision to sell the team was made shortly after the Super Bowl celebrations at the request of the late Paul G. Allen, with his estate also handling the sale of the NBA franchise Portland Trail Blazers for $4.25 billion to billionaire Tom Dundon back in March.

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