Much was made about Tom Brady initially electing not to root for the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX, saying, “I don’t have a dog in the fight in this one. May the best team win.” He added that the only thing he was rooting for was “good football.”
It was definitely an odd thing for Brady to say, considering he won six Super Bowls as the Patriots’ quarterback, including Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks.
In his defense, he’s now a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders and serves as a game analyst for FOX. So, while he clearly has a vested interest in the Raiders’ success, it’s fair that he wouldn’t openly have too many favorites around the league.
Still, that didn’t stop many of Brady’s former Patriots teammates from taking exception to his neutrality.
Former defensive tackle Vince Wilfork told WEEI that it was “bullcrap,” while cornerback Asante Samuel was so incensed that he insinuated he would air out some sort of personal baggage unless Brady stood with the Pats as the franchise went for its seventh Super Bowl title.
Tom Brady you have 23 hrs to respond or it’s up. I’m going ape shit about who you are
— Asante Samuel (@pick_six22) February 5, 2026
As it turns out, Brady’s former teammates weren’t the only ones a little taken aback by Brady assuming the role of Switzerland. Former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who won two Super Bowls himself, both against Tom Brady and the Patriots, admitted that he was a little surprised, too.
“I’m a little surprised by that,” Manning told Front Office Sports in the days leading up to the game. “For the success he had, the championships, the fact there’s a statue of him… you would think he’d have a little dog in this fight.”
It seems Brady has seen all the backlash and decided the path of least resistance might be to change his tune, at least publicly. Near the end of the week, Brady shared a photo of himself with Patriots owner Robert Kraft on his Instagram story.
“You know I got your back, RKK,” Brady wrote. “Get that 7th ring so we can match.”
Tom Brady shared a message of support for Patriots owner Robert Kraft ahead of Super Bowl LX 💍
(via @TomBrady) pic.twitter.com/knCfrfsLaW
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) February 7, 2026
There’s a chance Brady still doens’t truly feel like he has “a dog in the fight” and just wanted to take off some of the heat he’s been receiving, or maybe he got wind of Manning’s take, and it made him reconsider. Regardless of his reasoning, his public stance is that he’s rooting for his former team to join him in the very exclusive “seven Super Bowl titles” club.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.