Patriots Player 'Irritated' By Tom Brady's Super Bowl Comment

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Aug 21, 2026 5:10 PM ET

Prior to Super Bowl LX between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, Patriots legend Tom Brady infamously “I don’t have a dog in the fight.” While the Patriots may have been too focused on their Super Bowl prep to address it then, one Patriots player is ready to address it now.

In a word, he was irritated.

Speaking to WEEI in Boston this week, Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane admitted that Brady’s comment was irritating to him but also made him feel bad for Brady. Spillane felt that for Brady to have “no care in the world” for the Patriots despite the 20 years he spent with the team was just sad.

“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. “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.”

“It IRRITATED me” Patriots LB Robert Spillane joins live! What did Spillane make of Tom Brady saying, “I don’t have a dog in the fight”?
Spillane: “It made me feel sad for him” #TomBrady #Patriots #NFL pic.twitter.com/R6mklEAVHr
— WEEI (@WEEI) August 21, 2026

Moving On

While Brady still loves the Patriots and returned for his statue unveiling last week, it’s a lot harder for him to attend games than it once was. Between his work on FOX and his position as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, there really aren’t many opportunities for him to say hi to his former team.

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel feels that Tom Brady has moved on, but will always consider his former teammate a friend.

“Clearly Tom’s gone out of his way to make it known that he’s trying to, you know — he has a new job and a new role and, you know, it is really what it is,” Vrabel told WEEI last week. “Tom’s a friend, he’ll always be a friend. He was a former teammate, but, I mean, he’s made it clear, like, ‘I’m doing something new now.’”

Jan 20, 2019; Kansas City, MO, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) celebrates with coach Bill Belichick after the AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. The Patriots defeated the Chiefs 37-31 in overtime to advance to fifth Super Bowl in eight seasons. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images.

Back in 2020, the Patriots made the now-infamous decision to let Tom Brady walk in free agency after an apparent falling out between him and head coach Bill Belichick.

In retrospect, choosing Belichick over Brady might have been one of the worst decisions the franchise made in a generation.

Brady went on to win a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the very next year and continued playing at a high level for two more seasons after that. Belichick had only one more winning season in the four years that followed and left with his reputation as the all-time greatest coach in question.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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