When Vinod Khosla admitted in his first press conference as the new owner of the Seattle Seahawks that he has been — and continues to be — a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, it was the quote that launched a thousand reactions.
Media outlets and social media accounts had a field day with the comments made Wednesday, including the Seattle Times, New York Post, The Comeback, and Barstool Sports.
“What not to do during your opening press conference as the new Seahawks owner? Reveal you’ve been a Steelers fan your whole life and still watch all of their games,” wrote Barstool in a post on X featuring video of Khosla’s comments.
Admittedly, not the best look, even if his comments were overblown. That’s probably something best left for the next time the two teams play, and only after Seattle wins.
Still, while Khosla might only be a few days into his tenure as an NFL owner, he’s not wasting any time pushing back on the narrative that he’s not fully committed to the Seahawks franchise.
“Reporters will make every molehill into a mountain just to get column inches to write or video minutes,” he wrote on X in response to Barstool’s post. “What’s wrong with admitting my 1976-78 period in Pittsburgh (CMU) got me excited about the NFL? I still watch their games, doesn’t mean I won’t unconditionally ALWAYS as owner, want the [Seahawks] to win and have every edge up, EVERY TIME over every other team!!!! Zero questions!!! At the other end is a set of teams I always want to lose every advantage.
“But happy to have the sports writer getting more column inches and fill their pages. You are welcome. Apologies in advance for my very transparent style.”
Reporters will make every molehill into a mountain just to get column inches to write or video minutes. What’s wrong with admitting my 1976-78 period in Pittsburgh (CMU) got me excited about the NFL? I still watch their games doesn’t mean I won’t unconditionally ALWAYS as… https://t.co/yyWgeJgIts
— Vinod Khosla (@vkhosla) August 28, 2026
The truth is that it’s pretty silly to presume that anyone buying an NFL franchise didn’t already have rooting interests. As Pro Football Talk noted, Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf was similarly transparent about being a lifelong New York Giants fan before buying the team.
When push comes to shove, you don’t spend $9.6 billion on an NFL team and then root against them, regardless of who you grew up pulling for.
It made for a fun pull-quote and aggregation topic, but Seahawks fans shouldn’t be worried the next time they take the field against Pittsburgh. The rich guy in the luxury booth knows what he paid for.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.