Vinod Khosla's introductory press conference as the Seattle Seahawks' new owner included him admitting that he is a fan of another NFL team. "I happened to come to this country in '76 when the Steelers were winning the Super Bowl," Khosla said. "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." As you can imagine, those comments led to some criticism. How can an NFL owner openly cheer for another team? And if they do, why would they openly admit that?
It's something that you typically don't hear from a sports owner, especially during their introductory press conference. Making Khosla's comments even more odd/interesting is the fact that the Seahawks lost to the Steelers in a Super Bowl that included several controversial penalties that came at Seattle's expense. Seahawks fans are still salty about how their team lost their first-ever Super Bowl.
Khosla clearly heard some of the criticism, and he decided to address it on Friday via X. "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 owner, want the Seahawks to win and have every edge up, EVERY TIME over every other team!!!! At the other end is a set of teams I always want to lose every advantage. But happy to have the sportswriter getting more column inches and fill their pages.
Apologies in advance for my very transparent style." Khosla's initial adoption of the Steelers as his NFL team makes sense and is one of the reasons why Pittsburgh has one of the biggest fan bases in sports. While it started with the 1958 NFL Championship Game (the first NFL game that went to overtime), the transitiion from baseball to football as America's most popular sport took place in the 1970s, when the Steelers fielded arguably the most talented team pro football has ever seen. Boasting a roster that featured 10 future Hall of Famers, the Steelers won four Super Bowls over a six-year span.
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