Every new NFL owner is largely an open book, with the pages to be filled in one news item at a time.
For new Seahawks owner Vinod Khosla, chapter one relates to his admission that he was and remains a Steelers fan.
Khosla has bristled at the criticism of the relevant comments from his first press conference after the sale of the team was approved.
“Reporters will make every molehill into a mountain just to get column inches to write or video minutes,” Khosla said on Twitter. “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.”
Khosla’s message appears over a reposting of a tweet from Barstool Sports with this observation: “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.”
The reaction to Khosla’s comments was widespread. He chose to share the “little-known fact” while demonstrating his longstanding passion for football.
Of course he’s now fully aligned with the Seahawks. The point isn’t that he was a Steelers fan. It’s that he decided, without prompting, to tell the world that he was and still is a Steelers fan, and that he still watches all of their games.
“So, actually, I was originally, and still am, a big Steelers fan also — a little-known fact — but I still watch all the Steelers games, too.”
That’s what he said. No one put words in his mouth. No one was grilling him over the legitimacy of his commitment to the Seahawks, and no one is. The reaction came from the basic reality that it probably wasn’t the best thing to wear on his sleeve in the first press conference as the owner of the Seahawks.
And it wasn’t just, you know, the rest of the world that came to that conclusion. Watch the video. Khosla’s son, Neal, had just enough of a crack in his poker face to reveal that he was thinking something like, “Dad. Don’t.”
The strong reaction to the criticism now becomes the second chapter in the Book of Khosla. And the chapters will come one after another — especially since Khosla seems to be very active on social media.
At least he didn’t close with, “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”